Archaeological Excavations
The village is situated on and around an archaeological tell and developed around the spring. During the construction of a new house in the village in the early 21st century, ancient ruins were exposed. A salvage excavation was undertaken in February 2004 that uncovered strata dated to the Early Bronze Age and the Roman period. In a single square (4 × 6 meters), excavated to a depth of 1 meter, that had previously been covered by 1.5 meters of sterile alluvial soil, remains dated to the Bronze Age included part of stone building and potsherds, while the Roman period remains included potsherds, coins, animal bones, and marble fragments. Two coins were dated to the Byzantine period (2nd half of the 6th century CE), one of which was an Arab-Byzantine coin (c. 640-660 CE) that imitates the coins of emperor Constans II.
A follow-up excavation in an adjacent 4 x 4 meter area conducted in August 2007 discovered potsherds from the Iron Age, as well as those dated to the Byzantine period, or the beginning of the Early Islamic period.
A salvage excavation undertaken at the southern end of the village in August 2003 uncovered a tabun oven and fragments of pottery that were dated to Early Islamic period, specifically to the period of early Abbasid rule. Additional attestation to the village being inhabited during the period of Mamluk rule over Palestine, was found in the form of a wall and living space uncovered during salvage excavations undertaken in a private home in Sulam in August 2006. Other remains discovered in the village include a church, hiding complexes, and tombs.
Another excavation undertaken on the main street of the village at the end of 2007, uncovered building remains from the Early Islamic period (8th-10th centuries) and the late Ottoman period (19th century), as well as a burnt layer from the end of the Crusader and beginning of the Mamluk periods (12th-13th centuries). It also revealed potsherds from the Iron Age, Hellenistic, Byzantine and Roman periods. The Israeli archaeology report on this excavation indicated that the core of the village had been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the years, and that there was a hiatus in settlement between the 13th and 19th centuries. Another Israeli excavation report from December 2006 uncovered remains from the periods of Roman (3rd century), Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader (12th century), Mamluk (13th-15th centuries), and Ottoman (17th-19th centuries) rule.
Read more about this topic: Sulam