Taxel (2013:179, 181) reports that ceramic and numismatic evidence indicates the first intensive occupation of the site began no earlier than the late sixth or seventh century CE and this phase continued until a destruction sometime in the eighth century. This destruction is tentatively associated with the earthquake in the mid-8th century CE, which Taxel suggests may have caused widespread damage to the settlement.

Taxel (2013) further observes that the mid-eighth-century destruction did not bring an end to occupation at the site. Instead, settlement activity continued, albeit in a modified form, through a subsequent phase that lasted until the eleventh century CE. This continuity suggests adaptation following the destructive event rather than permanent abandonment, despite the scale of damage implied by the archaeological record.

Additional functional changes are noted within the eighth century. Taxel (2013) states that two miqvaʾot and a large wine press at the western edge of the site went out of use and were converted into refuse dumps. Whether this shift was directly related to earthquake damage or instead reflects a change in the religious affiliation of the population remains uncertain. Supporting evidence from Yannai (2014) indicates that across Areas B, C1, and C3, Stratum VI structures were destroyed in an earthquake, plausibly one of the mid-8th century earthquakes, after which new construction (Stratum V) was erected above the damaged remains.