Three major archaeological discoveries emerged from excavations conducted in Samaria and northern Judea over three decades. The first is that most of the monasteries here were located in fourth century CE fortresses and forts. In the late fifth and sixth century CE these were given to monks along with funding to establish monasteries, blocking the southern expansion of the Samaritans following their revolts and the damage they inflicted upon Christian sites. The Christians were unsuccessful in displacing the Samaritans in any of the areas dominated by Samaritans. A third discovery were oil and wine presses in most of the northern monasteries around which olive trees and grape vines could be cultivated.