Er-Rujum (Sha'alabim East): An Intermediate Bronze Age (EB IV) site in the Ayyalon Valley

At the site of Er-Rujum, located on the western slopes of the Ramallah Anticline in the northern part of the Ayyalon Valley, an Intermediate Bronze Age site was discovered below Ottoman-period rujums. The architecture at the site comprised broadrooms, with a central space and passages between them, demonstrating similarities with other Intermediate Bronze Age buildings excavated in the Jordan Valley and the Judean Hills. The finds at the site included pottery typical of the Southern Family, dominated by storage jars, flints, groundstone tools, a metal blade and beads, as well as faunal and botanical remains; pottery dating to Middle Bronze Age II was collected from fills, probably connected with a settlement from this period at nearby Sha'alabim. The site of Er-Rujum was interpreted as a rural village with a subsistence strategy comprising an association of agriculture with some cattle herding, together with manufacturing workshop activities. This site provides additional data toward an understanding of the nature and settlement patterns of this controversial period in the archaeology of the southern Levant.