Area A
An excavation square was opened c. 500 m from the shoreline and a section of an aqueduct (length 5.5 m), oriented east–west, was unearthed (Fig. 2). The aqueduct included a clay pipe composed of sections (diam. 0.2 m; length 0.37 m; Fig. 3) that were set on the ground, covered with a casing of cement mixed with small fieldstones and sealed on both sides with different size fieldstones. A few fragments of pottery vessels that dated to the Roman and Byzantine periods were discovered. The aqueduct probably conveyed water from the el-‘Asal spring, which flows near the Byzantine bridge, to Caesarea or the adjacent farmland.
Area B
The area (c. 24 sq m) was opened c. 20 m east of Area A. Remains of two curved walls (W10, W11; Fig. 4) were exposed. The walls, built of dressed kurkar stones (0.3 × 0.4 × 0.7 m) and preserved three courses high, were separated by an opening (L30; width 0.6 m). Potsherds dating mostly to the Roman period were collected.
The walls were probably part of a building, whose function is unclear; however it was probably connected to the ancient road that passed close by. Due to its condition and the modern disturbances caused to the excavation area, it could not be expanded northward to evaluate the nature and extent of the remains.