Ann Andersson

Results of pottery analysis from the 2014-2018 seasons at the Ritual Landscape of Murayghat Project. The pottery, dated to the EB IA period (ca. 3700-3400/3300 BCE), demonstrates "splash and drip", "pie-crust" and "puncture" decoration on holemouth jars. "Line-group" decoration is found on bowls. The article presents a large V-shaped bowl with multiple sets of ledge handles, which does not find parallels in the EB I archaeological record.

The Ritual landscape of Murayghat is directed by Dr. Susanne Kerner under the auspice of University of Copenhagen. Murayghat is known for it's extensive Early Bronze Age (ca. 3600-2000 B.C.) dolmen field and it's large standing stone (the Hajr al-Mansûb), but the 2014-2018 excavations have also uncovered Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000-1500 B.C.) architecture at the site along with pottery from both periods. This poster was presented at ICHAJ 14 in Florence, Italy (2019).

Beads belong to a small-finds object class; they are easily transportable, and can be traded over vast distances and therefore they can be useful to indicate long-distance trade and contacts. Beads are often overlooked as they are largely invisible in historical sources relating to the Gulf. As a result, their potential as signifiers of trade may well go unnoticed if they are classified solely as personal adornments. This study focuses on the bead assemblage excavated at Furayhah, a settlement located near the larger
trading port, al-Zubārah, in north-western Qatar. The results of the preliminary study of the Furayhah beads have revealed a high percentage of European trade beads at the site. The identified trade beads provide clues to networks of commerce and the varied connections enjoyed by the settlement during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries AD, and add information on the complex webs of interaction in the Gulf area at this time.

Poster presented at ICAANE 13 conference, Copenhagen, Denmark.

An analysis of the bead corpus from the late third and second millennium settlement at Failaka island (Kuwait) has revealed evidence for interregional trade, through stylistic parallels and the possible origin places for the stone materials. While the 3rd millennium settlement (Tell F6) at the island revealed Mesopotamian material culture, the 2nd millennium settlements (Tell F3 and F6) were associated with the Dilmun culture, which had its main seat of power at Bahrain. The settlements were excavated by a Danish Archaeological Mission from Moesgaard Museum from 1958-1963. Excavations at were resumed by Moesgaard Museum in 2008 and are still in progress today. In these excavations, a total of 856 beads have been recovered so far. These were all found in settlement contexts, which indicates a high consumption of beads in daily activities. The beads are made from a variety of materials including glass, faience, agate, carnelian, rock crystal, lapis lazuli, seashells and ostrich eggshell. Stylistic parallels point to beads coming from a vast geographic region spanning between the Indus region and the Aegean region.

The island of Failaka (Kuwait) is favorably situated in the Persian Gulf at the inlet of the Mesopotamian harbor cities of the 3rd to 2nd millennia BC. The island was investigated between 1958 and 2017 by several different archaeological projects focusing on the remains from the Bronze Age. Two settlements (Al-Khidr and Tell F3) and two large monumental buildings (Tell F6) were uncovered. A substantial number of beads made from semiprecious stones (carnelian, agate, jasper, turquoise, and lapis lazuli) were found. Lesser numbers were made of glass, faience, and paste, as well as bone, shell, ostrich eggshell, and clay. The majority of the beads must have been brought to the island as finished goods since raw materials for their production were not locally available and little evidence of bead production has been identified on the island. The beads found at Failaka suggest that the island was tied into extensive trading networks reaching from the Indus region to the Mediterranean.

Excavations in 1958-1963 on the island of Failaka in Kuwait uncovered a small community of Dilmun traders from the second millennium BC. Prominent among the finds were 629 beads, most of them made of semi-precious stone, such as different varieties of chalcedony (agate, carnelian, jasper, and moss agate) and quartz (rock crystal, milky quartz, and smoky quartz), and a range of other stone types, such as calcite, chlorite, lapis lazuli, turquoise and porphyry. Additionally, part of the beads was made of glass: a new prestige material of the second millennium.

The study consists of a typology, a classification of materials and an analysis of the dating and distribution of the beads. Manufacturing techniques, including perforation and use-wear, are also considered. In a final discussion, the bead corpus from Failaka is compared with similar material from contemporary sites on Failaka and in Bahrain, along with some thoughts on connections and trade relations, which may be inferred from the materials and forms in the bead assemblage. The study proposes far-reaching connections with the Indus in the east and the Aegean in the west.

An analysis of the Bronze Age beads from Tell F6 at Failaka Island, Kuwait, excavated from 2008-2012. The bead material were recovered from  excavation layers between the Bronze Age "Palace" and Temple dating to settlement phases between 2100-ca. 1350 BC.