Early Dilmun and its rulers: new evidence of the burial mounds of the elite and the development of social complexity, c. 2200–1750 BC

Abstract

This paper deals with the social organisation of early Dilmun in Bahrain based on evidence from the burial mound record. Complete aerial photography survey and mapping have documented the extensive mound fields of Bahrain in their entirety and revealed a new and rare type of burial mound encircled by an outer ring wall. From the spatial distribution and appearance of these ‘ring mounds’ it is argued that they cover the time span 2200–1750 BC. It is further argued that the ring mounds reflect the entombment of a prominent segment of early Dilmun society and thus testify to the presence of a social elite as early as the late third millennium BC. The paper offers evidence supporting the view that fundamental changes in the size of the ring wall and the encircled mound occurred over time, culminating in the colossal ‘royal’ mounds near Aali village. The increase in size of the special mounds and the exclusive appearance of the type in the Aali cemetery after the emergence of ten concentrated cemeteries around 2050 BC are correlated with the already available evidence of increasing social complexity in Dilmun. Three clusters of ring mounds in Aali are argued to reflect the appearance of one or more ruling lineages that were ultimately to found the colony on Failaka, Kuwait, and rule not only Bahrain but also the adjacent coast of Saudi Arabia.

The Dilmun Bioarchaeology Project: a first look at the Peter B. Cornwall Collection at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology

“…It is therefore not possible to reconstruct the design of burial chambers, the body’s position or the precise location of associated objects and faunal remains. Nor is it possible to determine if individual tumuli can be characterised as Early or Late Type, the characteristics of which were recently summarised by Laursen (2008: 158–160).…”

“…A number of changes during this time signal centralised political and economic circumstances, including the fortification of Qala’at al‐Bahrain, the construction of the Barbar temple, the appearance of stamp seals and commercial connections with Mesopotamia, South Asia and other Gulf settlements. Careful analysis of burial remains has also revealed a number of changes in mortuary architecture and assemblages that point to increased social differentiation within Dilmun society (Laursen 2008). The fact that certain individuals were interred in larger tumuli with more elaborate architectural designs and objects, suggests that their deaths motivated survivors to dedicate more wealth and labour to their commemoration (Højlund 2007: 129–136).…”

Mesopotamian ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain, c.2250-1750 BC

“…The two types are physically different and primarily dated on the grounds of domestic and imported pottery and seals found in the chambers. In terms of social organisation the emergence of the mound cemeteries has been intimately linked to the formation of the Dilmun state proper (Højlund 1989; 2007; Laursen 2008; 2010).…”

A late fourth- to early third-millennium grave from Bahrain,c.3100-2600 BC

“…Significantly, the earliest material that was encountered during these investigations came from the flat‐topped burial mounds of so‐called Early Type, c .2250–2050 BC (Lowe ; Frøhlich ; Laursen , ). The finds included late Sargonic to Ur III period Mesopotamian pottery (Laursen ) as well as contemporary painted fine wares imported from the Oman peninsula based on Umm an‐Nar culture (Laursen ).…”