In Stratum VIII, beneath Stratum VII in Area A, Petit and Kafafi (2019) report the discovery of remains of an older, rectangular building with wide walls made of square clay bricks. Petit and Kafafi (2020:52–54) note that although not burnt, collapse debris suggest some sort of destruction, although the team could not exclude deliberate dismantling. They also describe broken pottery—sherds of a large pithos (a storage container more than one meter in diameter) — found on the floor and painted with a “tree of life” and two bulls or zebus. According to Petit and Kafafi (2018b:35–36), the wall and associated finds, such as a typical Iron Age II bowl, were dated to the eighth century B.C..