V. Vertical shaft tombs with a rectangular shape that widen at the base to accommodate arcosolia with trough graves and loculi. Caves used as tombs. In chapter 1, Waterhouse presents an overview of the six primary tomb types. Each of the next six chapters contains detailed descriptions of all of the excavated tombs by type. Nevertheless, based on the pottery and other finds, and on comparisons with tombs at other sites in Palestine, Waterhouse dates the initial construction of Tomb Types I, II, and IV to the early Roman period, and Types III and V to the late Roman period.
Burials seem to have ceased in most of the tombs after the early Byzantine period.
The prolonged and repeated use of these tombs, combined with ancient and recent plundering, had disturbed the human skeletal remains. Few complete or relatively complete individuals were recovered, and there was a preponderance of fragmented crania without associated postcranial material. Taking into account these and other factors, Grauer and Armelagos estimate that a minimum number of 191 individuals were buried in the excavated tombs. In one case, a coin was found between the legs of an individual, while in another, a finger bone was discolored from holding a coin. As Waterhouse notes, the benches were large enough for a body to be laid on during washing and anointing.