 Ussishkin believed that the collection of Chalcolithic ritualistic artifacts, made mostly of copper and of ivory, that were discovered in a cache located in a cave in Nahal Mishmar, were the artifacts from this ancient temple.He conjectured that they had been brought to that cave and hidden there by the temple's priests as part of their preparations for abandoning the site, hoping, later, to return to it.In the years 1964 and 1965 he was field supervisor in the excavations of Masada, under Yigael Yadin.