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Palmahim (North) is a large Chalcolithic burial and cult site of a type previously unknown in the central coastal plain of Israel. The well-planned cemetery comprises circular or rectangular single-chamber burial structures, built upon or hewn into the kurkar bedrock. Within the burial structures, secondary interments were made in a variety of receptacles, including small cists, chain-burial cells, stone and clay ossuaries, and burial jars. Most of the tombs had rectangular, trapezoidal or ovoid orthostats attached to one of their sides within a recess. The pottery assemblage is small, consisting mainly of simple types very common in the Ghassulian Chalcolithic culture. 

This article presents the results of two excavations conducted at Khirbat Abu Hamid, with special focus on the EB IB unfortified settlement at the end of the fourth millennium BCE. A rather large village was exposed, comprising four strata dating to EB IB. The architectural remains include rounded and rectangular structures. The pottery finds are evidence of a transitional EB IB–EB II horizon. After the settlement was abandoned, its inhabitants may have established the fortified town at nearby Tel Bareqet. The microcosm of the Lod Valley in the third millennium BCE reveals a considerable shift from a rural and open settlement toward a full-fledged urban landscape, in which at least three fortified towns existed.

The excavation in the neighborhood of Barne‘a B and C, Ashqelon, was conducted in two locations (Areas A and B). A series of small buildings was exposed in Area A and part of a cemetery, in Area B. The pottery assemblage from Area A is rather homogeneous, including many storage jars, as well as cooking and serving vessels. The glass vessels are dated mainly to the Byzantine period. The majority of the coins belong to the sixth century CE, including a small hoard of gold coins. The remains excavated at Barne‘a B–C seem to be part of the northern Byzantine (fifth–seventh centuries CE) settlement in Ashqelon, called Maiumas Ascalon (Ashqelon Maritime).

The removal of soil from the vaults of the Crusader-period water reservoir at Moza revealed the installation’s plan and new data concerning its periods of use. The vaults were filled with gray soil, containing arch stones, pottery, glass, metal finds and animal bones, as well as chunks of lead and two copper coins from the Ayyubid period. This impressive Crusader-period reservoir was part of a larger structure from the same period. The pottery finds recovered from the fills provide evidence of continuous settlement here during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods.