Book Review

ROBERT KILLICK & JANE MOON (ed.) 2005 The Early Dilmun Settlement at Saar (London-Bahrain Archaeological Expedition Saar Excavation Report 3). Ludlow: Archaeology International

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Review by MARK BEECH
Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (email: adias@ead.ae)

Antiquity 80 no. 307 March 2006




This volume, the third in the series of monographs published by the London-Bahrain Archaeological Expedition, concerns the results of the excavations carried out between 1990 and 1999 at the Early Dilmun settlement of Saar in northern Bahrain. It follows the publication of the Dilmun temple at Saar (Crawford, Killick & Moon 1997) and the Early Dilmun seals at Saar (Crawford 2001).

The settlement publication is structured as follows: Saar, Dilmun and the London-Bahrain Archaeological Expedition are introduced by the editors in Chapter 1; Chapters 2, 3 and 4 deal with the sequence and buildings (Robert Killick). Assemblage studies start with tools, weapons, utensils and ornaments (Jane Moon, Chapter 5), followed by pottery vessels in Chapters 6 and 7 (Robert Carter, Jane Moon). Animal bones and their relevance to the ecology and economy of Saar occupy Chapter 8 (Margarethe and Hans-Peter Uerpmann), and archaeometallurgy features in Chapter 9 (Lloyd Weeks and Ken Collerson). Wendy Matthews and Charles French report on the microstratigraphic evidence, while Peter Bush, Graham Evans and Emily Glover deal with geology (Chapters 10 and 11). Robert Killick and Jane Moon conclude with a chapter on social and economic organisation (Chapter 12). Appendices include a bibliography, lists of corporate, institutional and individual supporters, staff and volunteers, the Saar archive and 14C determinations.

Four thousand years ago the merchants of Bahrain (ancient Dilmun) had contacts far and wide from the Indus to the Euphrates, bartering and exchanging a wide range of commodities. The economic success of these trading ventures led to increased prosperity at home, where stone-built temples and settlements were established in the well-watered northern part of Bahrain by the start of the second millennium BC.

Over seventy buildings were excavated at the Saar settlement, some of which were extremely well preserved with walls standing to roof height. The development of the architecture is described and there are chapters on the contents of the buildings, the domestic installations, food remains, metalwork, pottery and other household utensils. The Saar site is the only Early Dilmun settlement that has been extensively excavated by archaeologists, and as such it provides a valuable insight into the social and economic organisation of Bahrain during the Bronze Age. The similarity of buildings, installations and finds does lead to some repetitiveness in the report. A short summary of the main characteristics of each building in a shaded box at the beginning of each relevant section alleviates the problem. Information on the location and distribution of household objects in each building are mentioned en passant and are not described systematically. This information will however be available in future within the online site archive.

There is a remarkable degree of similarity in building form and installation type at Saar. A striking feature of the settlement as a whole is that the buildings were constructed in rows, sharing communal walls: not a single building stands alone in the settlement. Built of uncoursed locally available rough limestone, the single-storey buildings contain rooms with ovens and hearths, plastered storage pits, benches and basins. Most buildings seem to have performed a similar domestic function. The microstratigraphic evidence demonstrates very distinctive characteristics within each room, changing within the space of 1-2m. The remarkable recurrence and similarity of the deposits within the two buildings studied suggests some regularity in spatial and social conventions amongst the Saar community.

A large proportion of the book is devoted to description of the archaeological deposits and their finds. It is a pity that not more space was given to a detailed discussion of the wider significance of the Saar site in the concluding chapter. Did the term Dilmun apply to a much larger area than Bahrain including the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia? Although hints of economic and social relations between Saar and Qala'at al-Bahrain, the presumed capital of ancient Dilmun, are touched upon in the excellent pottery and animal bone chapters, there is no wider discussion of this key relationship. The interesting results of the metallurgical analysis provide an indication of the complexity of early metal exchange in the Gulf region which must have incorporated wide-ranging trade contacts.

Minor gripes are that it is not clear what the sizes of the scales are in some of the photographs, and there is no overall index. Standing aside these points, this volume sets a new precedent for standards of archaeological publication in the expanding field of Gulf archaeology. The monograph is handsomely produced and well designed. It makes good use of colour to illustrate archaeological plans which enhance our understanding of the spatial relationship between activities within the settlement. It is worth noting that a copy of the Saar electronic archive will be deposited with the UK-based Archaeological Data Service (http://ads.ahds.ac.uk) which should become available for on-line consultation in 2006.

References

CRAWFORD, H., R. KILLICK & J. MOON (ed.). 1997. The Dilmun Temple at Saar (London-Bahrain Archaeological Expedition Saar Excavation Report 1). London: Kegan Paul International.

CRAWFORD, H. 2001. Early Dilmun Seals from Saar (London-Bahrain Archaeological Expedition Saar Excavation Report 2). Ludlow: Archaeology International.


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