Ann Andersson

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.