Page 309 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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from Level C, however. The entire time range suggested for Levels C through H is
twelfth through fourteenth centuries with an upper limit defined by the appearance
of Ming dynasty blue and white porcelain in Level B.
Although not reported from this sounding, a variety of medieval
Persian wares have been noted in surface collections on Bahrain. Among these are
glazed bowls showing cross-hatched designs and dotted motifs similar to Allanfs
Persian Amul ware (Allan 1971, Plate 16) dated between the eleventh and thirteenth
centuries. More striking are vessels with black designs under turquoise glaze and
characteristic of twelfth-and thirteenth-century Persia (Alan 1971, Plates 23 and
24; Lane 1957).
The Bahrain ceramic assemblage changes character shortly before the
appearance of blue and white Ming dynasty porcelain. This may reflect upon the
increased influence of the Kingdom of Hormuz in the fourteenth century which
directed Bahrain's political consciousness to the southern portion of the gulf. Level
C may mark this shift, but it also relates to the lower limit of a more definable
Late Islamic ceramic assemblage.

The Late Islamic Period (A.D. 1500-1750)

The appearance of abundant Ming dynasty porcelain in Level B marks an important
temporal horizon, and dates the base of the Late Islamic ceramic assemblage to
the fifteenth century. Some of the many forms of this period are described below.

Figure 67: Medieval and Late Islamic Cooking Wares
a. Provenience not noted; sand-tempered red ware with white grits.
b. 518.BA, Profile, Level A; dark gray ware with white grits.
c. 518.BA; red paint on interior of rim; red ware with white grits.
d. 518.BA, Profile, Level A; sand-tempered red ware with white grits.
e. 518.K, Pit 1, Level 3b; red-brown ware.
f. 518.BI, Profile, Level F; sand-tempered, gray ware with white grits.
g- 518.U, Pit IN, Level El; red ware.
h. 518.J, Pit 1, Level 3a; poorly fired red ware.
i. 518.BG, Profile, Level D; light brown slip on sand-tempered, red brown ware.