Several areas at Gamla were excavated prior to the commencement of visitor-oriented development works at the site. In Area B, “the Hasmonean Quarter”, the excavation provided a first clue as to the boundaries of this anomalous area. The earliest finds were discovered in Area G, and included band-slipped potsherds, diagnostic of Early Bronze Age IB. Area K yielded the remains of a private mansion, which appears to have been a three-level domestic residence dating from the first century CE. In Area S, the remains of a basilica partitioned into three aisles were unearthed, and identified as a Jewish public building.