Cisterns, Jewish ritual baths, and cemeteries have been found, along with a dining or assembly room and debris from an upper story alleged by some to have been a scriptorium as well as pottery kilns and a tower.

But, according to Lawrence Schiffman, the rules of the community, its heavy stress on priesthood and the Zadokite legacy, and other details indicate a Sadducean-oriented sect either distinct from or one of the various Essene groupings.

[7] Others propose non-sectarian interpretations, some of these starting with the notion that it was a Hasmonean fort that was later transformed into a villa for a wealthy family, or a production center, perhaps a pottery factory or something similar.

Some scholars believe that some of these texts describe the beliefs of the inhabitants of Qumran, who may have been Essenes, or the asylum for supporters of the traditional priestly family of the Zadokites against the Hasmonean priest/kings.

In fact, the first excavations at Qumran (prior to the development of modern methodology) were of burials in the cemetery, conducted by Henry Poole in 1855 followed by Charles Clermont-Ganneau in 1873.

The most-prized find at Qumran up to this time were three small juglets containing over five-hundred silver coins, which were found in a room on the west side of the monastery.

[23] The Iron Age remains at the site, which were modest but included a LMLK seal, led de Vaux to identify Qumran as the City of Salt listed in Josh 15:62.

De Vaux interpreted his findings at Qumran based (at least in part) upon information in the Dead Sea Scrolls—which continued to be discovered in the nearby caves throughout his excavations.

[31][32] In 1986 the École Biblique appointed the Belgian archaeologist Robert Donceel to the task of publishing the final results of de Vaux's excavations.

[44] From mid-November 1993 to January 1994 the Israel Antiquities Authority carried out works in the Qumran compound and nearby installations as part of "Operation Scroll" under the direction of Amir Drori and Yitzhak Magen.

[53] A recent final publication of the French excavations by Jean-Baptist Humbert outlining evidence of a decorated frieze, opus sectile, fine columns etc., indicates a phase of a wealthier occupation, "une grande maison", at Qumran.

[54] The range of pottery, glass and high quantity of coins found at Qumran do not sit well in the context of a sectarian settlement according to the Donceels.

[60] Jan Gunneweg observed that the supposed single partial parallel at Jericho – "a partly preserved rim and neck with a vertical loop handle" – is in fact not a "scroll" jar.

[61] Another one was reported found in Jordan in a later burial near Abila but no photos or drawings were published and the jar has not been relocated, showing de Vaux sought parallels.

Much of what has been written on the chronology, the occupational periods and the history of Qumran is based on the preliminary report and lecture by the original excavator, Roland de Vaux in 1961, which was translated in 1973.

[66] A tentative list of the Qumran bronze coins along with Roland de Vaux's field diary from the excavations was published in 1994 in French, in German in 1996 and in English in 2003.

The bronze coins identified from Qumran, some dating to the second and third years of the Jewish War, indicate that the site was still in use in 68 CE and only destroyed after 70, perhaps as late as 73.

The new suggestion made is that the silver coin hoards from Qumran may be connected to Roman military campaigns in the region, as these are widely attested in the early 3rd century CE.

The new evidence refutes the possibility that the silver coins could have been collected from single individuals, for instance, as tax payments, or that Qumran could have been a regional 'tax house'.

They turned back to caves (mainly artificial ones cut into the marl terrace most of which have not survived) and tents (pointing to pottery and nails found along one of the paths near Qumran), and staying with 150–200 inhabitants.

[86] While waiting for the publication of Broshi and Eshel's results, Patrich, anticipating them, doubted the possibility that there were once "significantly more habitable caves" cut into the marl, pointing to the lack of paths and suitable terrain.

Others outside de Vaux's team proposed other interpretations, people such as Henri del Medico,[93] Solomon Zeitlin,[94] and G. R. Driver,[95] but their analyses received little lasting attention.

[96] Simon J. Joseph agrees that the Qumran community was a part of the Essene movement, under the influence of the Enoch traditions, adding that they possessed a stronger focus towards eschatology and messianism.

[98] (Rengstorf's basic Jerusalem proposal has become increasingly more popular since the materials from de Vaux's excavations of Qumran were brought into the public arena in 1992.

Using de Vaux's Period 1a findings, his own excavations at Ain el-Ghuweir 15 km south of Qumran, and Mazar's level 2 at 'En-Gedi, Bar-Adon argued, "these fortresses [belonged] to John Hyrcanus, who needed a strong, comprehensive defence system commanding vital water sources, agricultural fields, flocks, Jordan River crossings, the plains of Jericho and the caravan routes in the Judean desert.

Citing his work at ‘Ein Feshkha as a comparison, he suggested that the site at Qumran ultimately became an agriculturally-based, fortified trading station during the Herodian era.

At the southern end of this room 708 bowls, 204 plates, 75 goblets, 37 terrines, 21 jars, 11 jugs, and other ceramic items were found by de Vaux, mostly neatly stacked.

(Katharina Galor, who carried out the most complete analysis thus far of the Qumran water system, commented, "[f]rom a practical point of view, the interpretation of using the low divisions as a symbolic space divider does not make any sense".

[132] During Period III, (i.e., after the Jewish War), a water channel was partially rerouted to remedy prior destruction and continue to fill this pool.

Some writers have claimed that Israel has invested heavily in the area to establish the Qumran caves as a site of "uniquely Israeli Jewish heritage".