Page 246 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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sharply carinated shoulders. Close parallels are found in Mesopotamia, where
similar forms are described from the Akkadian levels at Ur (Woolley 1934, Plate
225, no. 76, Plate 261, no. 156) and at Susa (Steve and Gasche 1971, Plate 5, no. 30,
p. 65).
Miscellaneous Pre-Barbar Ware
Less certainty is provided by this group. Plain bowls 44a-d are present in buff and
red wares, but provide no definite parallels. Jars 44e-i are similarly obscure, as
are bases 44j-q. The suggestive forms among these are 44g and 44m. The former
is similar to 42e, mentioned previously, in buff ware while the latter is described
by Potts (1975) as occurring in Yahya IVC and Bampur H-IV. The presence of large
buff-ware vessels with ring bases (44o and 44q) is not particularly useful, although
similar forms are found throughout the Early Dynastic and Akkadian collections of
Mesopotamia (McCown and Haines 1967).
Summary
TTie pre-Barbar levels are diffcult to present in reliable chronological framework.
Tlie forms present loosely associate the levels with Yahya IVB and IVC, but
probably more securely with Yahya IVB. The definite lack of forms related to the
Jemdet Nasr "horizon" of eastern Arabia (Frifelt 1975), Tepe Yahya (Potts 1975) and
Iraq (Adams and Nissen 1972) suggest that the pre-Barbar levels relate to Yahya
IVB and the Umm an-Nar settlement and graves. Tosi (1976) places the Umm
an-Nar time range between 2200 and 1800 B.C., whereas Frifelt (1975b) considers it
to encompass the entire third millennium B.C. It would appear, on this basis, that
the lowermost levels in the north wall excavations may date to the Akkadian period
or the later phases of the Early Dynastic period of Mesopotamia. TTiis dating is
consistent with the meager ceramic evidence and the earliest historical mention of
Similarity in
Dilmun by Ur-Nanshe, approximately 2520 B.C. (Kramer 1963).
ceramic forms suggests a linkage in trade goods between Mesopotamia, eastern
Arabia, Umm an-Nar, Tepe Yahya, and possibly Bampur.