The circular shafts or pits (Fig. 2) were cut into the sterile hamra soil, sometimes reaching the underlying kurkar at varying elevations. The pits appear in three different sizes: deep narrow shafts (diam. 0.7–0.8 m; Figs. 3–5); deep medium-sized pits (diam. 1 m; Fig. 6); and a few large shallow pits (diam. c. 2 m; Fig. 7).
Deep narrow shafts
The bottom of these shafts could not be reached, as a result of their depth (2.5–4.5 m) and their constriction (diam. c. 0.8 m), which only allowed a single workman to excavate the fill manually. The fill in these shafts consisted of compact, gray clay sediments without any archaeological finds. It is assumed that these shafts were dug to reach sub-soil water levels.
Deep, medium-sized pits
These pits are fairly deep, yet their diameter (1.0–1.2 m) is larger than that of the shafts and at least some of them contained archaeological finds, including potsherds, flints, animal bones and charcoal, as well as occasional kurkar stone debris, dating to the Chalcolithic period. It is assumed that these pits served as places for waste disposal.
Large, shallow pits
Only two such pits were exposed. One of them, C10 (Fig. 7), was situated near the architectural remains (W300, W301; Fig. 8) and contained the remains of at least five in situ storage jars, as well as some flint tools, including a tabular scraper. These pits had most likely been used for storage of food commodities.
Structural remains were exposed only in the southern and northern most parts of the area (Squares C8 and P7). The poorly preserved remains of apparently foundation courses of two rectilinear walls (W300, W301) were exposed in Sq C8. The walls, built of medium-sized kurkar stones, were embedded in a layer of gray, compact clay sediments, resting directly on the underlying, sterile hamra soil (Fig. 8). No floor level had been preserved and the structure was devoid of any datable finds.
Fragments of post-Ottoman pottery vessels and glass bottles were found outside and immediately south of W300; these are considered intrusive and should not be associated with the actual building remains. It seems that these structural remains represent a fifth Chalcolithic structure that belonged to the Chalcolithic settlement, in addition to the four houses that had been uncovered in the previous excavation (HA-ESI 118
A free-standing, remarkably well-preserved circular structure (W302; outer diam. 1.9 m, inner diam. 0.8 m, height 1.7 m; Fig. 9) was exposed. It was built of kurkar stones and slabs and embedded in a thick, sterile layer of compact gray clay deposits overlying the sterile hamra soil. The two uppermost courses of the rather thick W302 were built of a double row of medium-sized kurkar stones, while the interior mid-section of the structure was constructed from carefully laid, thin horizontal slabs of kurkar, resting on three foundation courses of rather irregularly set kurkar stones (Fig. 10). This circular structure is interpreted as a silo or storage installation.
Evidence of three successive floors was noted in the structure; each floor was paved with small kurkar slabs (Fig. 11). The excavation within the structure continued for another c. 0.4 m below the first lowest floor. Unlike the exterior foundation level of this silo, which rested on sterile hamra soil, the interior soil fill below the lowest floor level consisted of gray compact clay, similar to the fills in the narrow deep shafts. This similarity inevitably leads to the conclusion that this structure had been built immediately over a pit or a shaft, whose bottom could not be reached due to time constraints.
Except for several Chalcolithic potsherds found on top of the upper, third floor, the fill of this silo and the underlying pit/shaft were devoid of archaeological finds.
Similar storage facilities, dating to the Chalcolithic period, were uncovered by H. Kaplan in 1971 in the nearby Exhibition Grounds, along the opposite eastern bank Nahal Ayyalon (Kaplan H. 1972. Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds. Museum Haaretz Bulletin 14:13–16).
Based on the few structural remains, as well as the pottery, flint and animal bone finds recovered from the various pits, it can be stated that the excavated remains constitute the northern-most extent of a small Chalcolithic settlement (c. 4000 BCE) that had been exposed in 2005 (HA-ESI 118
). Restoration of the pottery vessels found in Pit C10 and 14
C analyses of the various charcoal samples will hopefully corroborate and refine this conclusion.