The region of red sandy hills (hamra soil) in southern Sharon - including the area now known as the Tel Mond bloc - was historically difficult to cultivate due to its poor soil quality and limited access to water. The landscape was characterized by oak forests and open grazing land. As such, human settlement throughout the ages was sparse and intermittent, similar to the broader Sharon region.
The earliest evidence of human presence in the area dates back approximately 500,000 years to the Lower Paleolithic period. Early humans left behind traces of their hunter-gatherer lifestyle along the forest’s edge, mainly in the form of crude flint tools, particularly hand axes.
From the subsequent prehistoric periods - when humans transitioned from hunting and gathering to agriculture, domesticating animals, and processing food - few remains have been found in this region. Early communities remained nomadic, settling temporarily in seasonal encampments across hunting and grazing lands. Nevertheless, technological development is evident in the more advanced flint tools from the Epipaleolithic period (13,000–8,300 BCE) and the Neolithic period (8,300–6,000 BCE).
For nearly 5,000 years thereafter, there were no permanent settlements in the area until the Roman period, which marked the beginning of broad settlement activity across the Sharon region. Due to population growth and advances in agricultural techniques, farming communities were established in the red sandy hills for the first time. These included farms and villages where wine and olive oil production facilities - wine presses and olive presses - were found, indicating the cultivation of vineyards and olive groves, and the trade of wine, oil, pottery, and glassware.
This wave of settlement peaked during the Byzantine period (4th–5th centuries CE), with notable sites such as Deir Esfin and Khilodiya, whose remains have been the subject of archaeological investigation.
With the establishment of Muslim rule, the region was once again abandoned, reverting to oak forest and desolation for approximately 1,000 years. It remained so until the revival of agricultural settlement at the beginning of the 20th century.
Source: The Lord’s House Archive, Orna Goren, 1992, File: Archaeological Findings in the Tel Mond Bloc.