Danish Archaeological Investigations on Failaka, Kuwait, Failaka/Dilmun. The Second Millennium Settlements

Ann Andersson

Description

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.

Sujets

• Social Science
• Histoire
• Archaeology

Informations

• Publié par: Aarhus University Press
• Date de parution: 01 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9788793423817
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 28 Mo

Extrait

FAI LAKA | DI LMUN
THE SECOND MILLENNIUM SETTLEMENTS
volume 5
The Beads
By Ann AnderssonThe Beads
1Danish Archaeological Investigations on Failaka, Kuwait
FAILAKA | DILMUN
THE SECOND MILLENNIUM SETTLEMENTS
volume 5
The Beads
by Ann Andersson
Jutland Archaeological Society
Moesgaard Museum, Denmark
National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, Kuwait
3Failaka | Dilmun
The Second Millennium Settlements
volume 5
The Beads
Ann Andersson © 2022
ISBN 978-87-93423-81-7
ISSN 0107-2854
Jutland Archaeological Society Publications vol. 17:5
Edition: Flemming Højlund
Design: Louise Hilmar
Photos and drawings: Ann Andersson
English revision: Sharon E. Rhodes
Published by Jutland Archaeological Society in cooperation with Moesgaard Museum
and the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, Kuwait
Distributed by Aarhus University Press
Finlandsgade 29
DK-8200 Aarhus N
www.unipress.dk
The publication is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation
4Contents
1. Introduction ...............................................................................................7
2. Typology ............................................................................................................9
3. Materials .......................................................................................................27
Mineral materials ............................................................................................27
Organic materials 32
Artifcial materials ..........................................................................................33
4. Dating and distribution....................................................35
Tell F3 .........................................................................................................................35
Tell F6 36
5. Manufacture and use-wear ....................................... 41
Stone beads ...........................................................................................................41
Shell rings ...............................................................................................................46
Glass, faience and paste beads ............................................................46
6. Discussion ..................................................................................................48
7. Catalogue .....................................................................................................55
Notes .................................................................................................................. 107
Bibliography ......................................................................................... 109
5
N
NE Temple“Palace” Main Temple
Tell F6
Tell F5
domestic houses
Tell F3
temple yard
Tell F4
0 50 100
m
Fig. 1. Map of Tell F3 and Tell F6.
6Back to Table of contents
1. Introduction
The beads presented in this volume were recovered The available 515 beads found during the 1958-1963
from excavations carried out in Tell F3 and Tell F6 on excavations are the object of the present work and
the island of Failaka in Kuwait by the Danish Archae- are referred to as the assemblage in the following
ological Mission between 1958 and 1963. The architec- pages. They are kept in the Kuwait National Museum,
ndture uncovered dates to the 2 millennium BC and and they were studied by the author during
sevconsists of several phases of domestic architecture eral stays on Failaka (2009-2019) as a member of the
along with a small temple courtyard in Tell F3 and a Kuwaiti-Danish Archaeological Mission to Failaka
large production and storage installation called the directed by Dr Flemming Højlund. Final preparation
“Palace” in Tell F6 (fgs. 1 and 2). The architectural of the manuscript was made in 2022.
remains and their dating have since been published This study uses two parallel systems for numbering
(Kjærum & Højlund 2013), along with material studies the beads, the Danish feld number and the Kuwait
of stamp seals (Kjærum 1983), pottery (Højlund 1987), National Museum number. The feld number consists
and stone vessels (Hilton 2014). of a tell prefx, F3 or F6, combined with letters or a
The corpus of beads from the 1958-1963 invest-i number (e.g. F3.ei and F6.60) (cf. Højlund 1987 p. 8-9).
gations consists of 167 beads from Tell F3 and 348 A feld number can be assigned to a single bead or a
beads from Tell F6, a total of 515 beads. Originally, group of beads, up to ffteen, from the same context.
the material from the Danish excavations included Any information attached to the feld number (trench,
114 additional beads, but they were lost during the fnd level and horizontal coordinates, along with a
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Thus, the combined description of form and material) was registered
number of beads from the Danish 1958-1963 excav-a in paper-based documentation (“white registration
tions would have amounted to 629 beads. cards”), stored at Moesgaard Museum. The
registraThe lost beads were registered under Kuwait tion system used by the Kuwait National Museum
National Museum numbers KM 374 (n=53), KM 375 consists of the prefx KM, followed by a number (e.g.
(n=40) and KM 376 (n=21). The National Museum of KM1681), which is usually assigned to a group of fnds,
Kuwait kindly provided photographic documentation from one to sixty-one beads. Each KM number has
of these beads and therefore it was possible to dete-r been registered in paper-based documentation (“blue
mine that they resemble the rest of the bead assem - registration cards”) and photographed by the staff of
blage with respect to forms and materials. Apart from the Kuwait National Museum, which has provided
their being attributed to Tell F3 or Tell F6, there is no invaluable information.
information on their archaeological contexts. The present study of the beads deriving from the
The excavations were continued at Tell F3 and 1958-1963 excavations consists of a typology (Chap -
Tell F6 in 1973-74 by the Johns Hopkins University ter 2), a classifcation of materials (Chapter 3) and an
whereby ffteen further beads were found (Ho-w analysis of the dating and distribution of the beads
ard-Carter 1984). (Chapter 4). Manufacturing techniques including
perIn 1984-85, French excavations uncovered a temple foration and use-wear will also be considered (Chapter
in Tell F6 east of the “Palace”; this produced further 5). In a fnal discussion, the bead corpus from Tell F3
ffty-one beads (Calvet and Pic 1986 p. 66-72). and Tell F6 will be compared with similar material
In 2008-2012 the Kuwaiti-Danish Archaeological from contemporary sites on Failaka and in Bahrain,
Mission to Failaka resumed excavations at Tell F6, and along with some thoughts on connections and trade
during these excavations 200 beads were recovered relations that may be inferred from the materials and
and subsequently published (Andersson 2016). forms in the bead assemblage (Chapter 6). Relevant
Kuwaiti-Danish excavations continued at Tell F3 information on each bead as well as photos and draw -
in 2012-2017 bringing a further twenty-seven beads ings are listed in a catalogue (Chapter 7).
to light (Andersson 2021). The total number of beads
found at Tell F3 and Tell F6 from 1958 to 2017 thus All drawings and photos are reproduced in full size (1:1).
amounts to 922.
7Back to Table of contents
MC
Houses ?4B
23,30
Phase 8
1350
Phase 6
4A Phase II Phase 7 Phase 5 IIIb1Houses 1400
12-15
1450
1500
Phase 4
1550
Late Temple Phase 3
3B Phase I Phase 6 III IIIacourtyard1600
I-III EnigmaticPhase 2
pottery
1650 Houses
1-11,
163A
17 and 22
1700 IA,IB,II
Houses Early Phase 5
28-29 Phase I
Phase 4
1750
2B Phase I
Phase 3
1800
IIc
Pre1850
Houses ‘Palace’ Phase 2
1/2A 26-27 IA,IB,IIPhase
1900
IIb
1950
TELL F3 TELL F6 TELL F6 TELL F3 STAMP QALA’AT
ALFH 2021
FAILAKA 1958-1963 2008-2012 2013-17 SEALS BAHRAIN
ndFig. 2. Chronological chart for the 2 millennium BC in the upper Arabian Gulf (Højlund & Hilton 2021 fg. 50).
Acknowledgements
We must thank the National Council for Culture, The author is indebted to Dr Flemming Højlund and
Arts and Letters, who has generously supported the Dr Steffen Terp Laursen from Moesgaard Museum
Kuwaiti-Danish Archaeological Mission to Failaka and to the entire team of the Kuwaiti-Danish Archaeo -
through its Secretary Generals, Mr Ali Hussain logical Mission to Failaka, especially Ms Anna Hilton
Al-Youha and his successor Mr Kamel Al-Abdul and Ms Aiysha Abu-Laban. I would also like to thank
Jalil. Warm thanks are also extended to the staff at Mr Jonathan Rose Andersen, Conservator Ms Helle
the National Museum of Kuwait, who has been helpful Strehle and Ms Hélène David-Cuny for their kind help
and attentive throughout the process of this study, throughout this study. Thanks are also due to an
anonespecially Directors of Antiquities and Museums ymous reviewer for insightful comments.
Mr Shehab A.H. Shehab and Dr Sultan Al-Dowaish, The publication of this volume was supported by
Director of Excavations Dr Hamad Al-Mutairi and the Carlsberg Foundation.
Superintendent Mr Talal Al-Saei.
8
ISIN-LARSA OLD BABYLONIAN
KASSITEBack to Table of contents
2. Typology
The assemblage of beads found during the 1958-1963 diameter. A short bead is a regular bead in which the
excavations in Tell F3 and Tell F6 being treated in this length is more than one-third the diameter, and less
volume has been classifed with the aid of Horace C. than nine-tenths the diameter. A standard bead is a
regBeck’s seminal study Classifcation and Nomenclature of ular bead in which the diameter is approximately the
Beads and Pendants (Beck 1928). Beck’s study provides same as the length, that is, a bead which has a length
a system of classifcation and a fxed terminology for of more than nine-tenths and less than one and
onethe description of beads and pendants that is fexible tenth times the diameter. A long bead is a regular bead
and accounts for the main p