[2] The production of stone vessels in the southern Levant became more common the late 1st century BCE as a result of the increasing adherence to Jewish purity laws.

The quarry and workshops on the east slope of Mount Scopus are amongst a small number of known production sites of stone vessels.

During the construction of a new road connecting Jerusalem to Ma'ale Adumim, a bulldozer created an opening in the cave ceiling, exposing a huge underground complex carved in chalkstone.

[8] David Amit, Jon Seligman, and Irina Zilberbod of the Israel Antiquities Authority led an excavation at the site in July and August of that year.

[9][10] Dating evidence consists of a small number of coins found at the site and pottery (bowls, cooking wares and storage jars, lamps).

Though they are a common feature of tombs from the period in which the complex was active, the discovery was the first evidence of an ossuary production site.