Page 226 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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During this period the southern geological limit to artesian water distribution was
reached. Springs no longer watered the slopes or the coastal plain beyond this
point. Dilmun grew rapidly during this period and probably reached a total
population over 20,000 (equivalent to the population of the medieval Islamic period
(ca. A.D. 1300). This represented a possible annual population growth rate of ca.
0.5 percent since the Akkadian period which may have included immigration from
inland areas along the Arabian coast. This surge in population reached its climax in
the early second millennium. Several forces may have played a role at this time.
Each contributed to a contraction in land use and to the related population
distribution. TTie first major force may have been one of simple economics.
Adapting Adams's views for another time period in Mesopotamia,

TT»e emphasis given to cereal production and to the
extension of the perimeters of cultivation heightened
this vulnerability. Lands of at best marginal productivity
had to be brought into use at increasing distances from
the main centers of settlement. Productivity consequently
fell. [Adams 1978:333]

Second, rainfall passed its maximum at about the same time. A decline in winter
rainfall led to increasing agricultural difficulty because the colluvial soils of the
fans could no longer be watered without complicated irrigation schemes. Relative
sea levels were apparently falling from previous highs causing a related, albeit
minor, decrease in spring flow. Such natural changes presented a severe problem
to a cultural group adapted to a generous environmental system.
At this time, Dilmun may have exceeded its land use base and
experienced difficulties in managing its own population. A trading colony on
Failaka Island flourished at this time. Similarly, the population of Dilmun was
shared by neighboring Arabia at Dhahran and Tarut Island, where other trading
populations were settled. A. Masry (personal communication) observes that
settlements with Barbar n ceramics do not occur far inland from these coastal
be related to
sites. TTiis spread of settlement along the Arabian coast may
agricultural problems on the island at this same time.