Late Chalcolithic Remains South of Wienhaus street in Yehud, cerntral Coastal Plain, Israel

Salvage excavations were carried out on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority in the fall of 2016 south of Ze’ev Wienhaus Street, located within the municipal boundaries of the modern city of Yehud in the central Coastal Plain of Israel. Numerous excavations have been carried out in the past in Yehud, with finds ranging from the Chalcolithic to Ottoman periods, though not continuously. In the present excavation 38 features dated to the Late Chalcolithic period were uncovered, including isolated pockets with occupational debris, narrow shafts and a shallow pit. The numerous shafts at the site are of particular interest in the light of similar features excavated in several localities in both Yehud and Tel Aviv over the last decade, and whose function is still under debate. The apparent absence of any structural (dwelling) remains notwithstanding, substantive quantities of pottery, flint, ground stone tools, and fauna remains were uncovered, that were subsequently analysed in the lab. The results of these analyses are presented below, together with the outcome of several 14C and portable OSL tests of selected sediment samples. Those provide a detailed insight concerning the genesis, character and approximate date of the various features comprising this site, and how Yehud fits in with other contemporary sites in the region. Although structural building remains are conspicuously absent, based on the various assemblages collected at the site, Yehud Wienhaus represents a distinct part of an otherwise typical mixed farming settlement, where domestic, agricultural and animal rearing activities took place. The results of this excavation join the still-growing data base of Late Chalcolithic localities that have been exposed recently in the ancient site of Yehud and elsewhere along the Ayalon River