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Fig. 6 shows a radiograph of the right side of the number of infants buried and their approximate
jaw shown in Fig. 3. The ‘dentist’ has broken off a ages. The jar contained at least five infants aged
tip of one of the roots, still visible in the jaw. from 1 - 30 months, and the basin at least fourteen
infants aged from 0 - 36 months. Age is assessed
according to the stage of development of the
I germs. The cause of death of these babies cannot
be determined. The germs are perfectly formed
and the mineralisation of the enamel is consum­
mate.
More material from Bahrain’s different histori­
cal periods would possibly throw more light on the
image of the ancient inhabitants of Dilmun. In
I addition, statistical comparisons of dentitions from
contemporary populations in the neighbouring
cultures along the Gulf might disclose their rela­
I tionships thus giving a pointer to the origin of the
first Bahrainis.

l Fig. 6

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Oral hygiene using tooth picks, for instance,
i might have prevented some of the attacks of caries.
In Mesopotamia, these were known as early as
3000 B.C., but none have as yet been found in
i Bahrain.
The inhabitants of 2500 B.C. examined from the
island of Umm an-Nar, on the contrary, had no
problems with attacks of caries. More than a
i The edge between the mastical and approximal
hundred individuals displayed no sign of caries.

surfaces of these teeth bear the stamp of many
■ small fractures of the enamel. This was not seen on
the teeth from Bahrain. We know from the
remnants of a household on Umm an-Nar that the
inhabitants ate animals such as the sea-cow, green
turtle, fish, gazelle, oryx and the domestic goat and
sheep. Grain and sweets were in short supply.
Dentitions from Wadi Suq/Jizzi in Oman, resem­
ble those from Umm an-Nar. The people here, had
easy access to the sea, whereas, at Jebel Hafit,
further inland, the inhabitants must have lived in
an oasis with dates. Thus, the latter had caries just :
as the Bahrainis.
From the Hellenistic period in Bahrain a few
dentitions excavated near Janussan reflect the
same image as the people who lived on the island in
2000 B.C. From Janussan, tooth germs contained
in a jar buried under a floor and found in a narrow
basin in the sand, are still under study. The few
accompanying bones were in a very poor condi­
tion, but the tooth germs themselves revealed the

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