The salvage excavation at Ashkelon had taken place for four seasons during 1993-1995. The site was accidentally discovered when development works in the area have begun before the establishment of a new residential district. As a result of the chance discovery and the fact that heavy machinery was operating in the field, not one of the pits was found intact and most, if not all, had their upper layer removed.

More than 70 pits were excavated; some were in very bad state and others were slightly better preserved. There was not a single plan to the pits but rather they were simply cut into the kurkar rock; their size seems to have been determined by the number of individuals that needed to be interred. Since the pits were dug into the rock, there was no lining of walls and no clear marking of a floor.

All the pits contained bones and burial offerings. The human bones were very fragile and sometimes simply disintegrated once they were exposed to the air and light. In spite of the harsh circumstances, some very interesting information was gathered from poor bones. There was only one case of a skeleton in articulation but due to the conditions, it is more likely that only one case was excavated and others simply did not survive. There were only a few cases of burial within jars.

The majority of offerings consisted of pottery vessels. There were a few bronze artifacts, notably weapons and tools, one scarab and a couple of beads. Among the pottery vessels, the store jars and dipper juglets rule the scene; the carinated bowls are very dominant, more so than the open (platter) bowls. There is a modest presence of jugs and of juglets, other than dipper. Although all sherds were collected and a thorough work of pottery restoration was done, it is quite evident that not everything put in the pits came to light and was registered. Many artifacts and pottery vessels, in particular, have simply disintegrated in the ground.

The burial pits are dated to the end of the MBIIA period (in the south of Canaan) which would seem to correspond to the transition MBIIA-B in the north of Canaan.