Staff
Mr Waleed Alsadeqi
(email at waleed.alsadeqi@durham.ac.uk)
Research Topic
The development and application of a beads typology for Bahrain
Abstract
For many decades, excavations carried out in Bahrain have yielded quantities of beads that continually seem to escape detailed study. These small finds, derived from the work of a number of different archaeological expeditions, have frequently been published as part of the “finds-repertoire” of these teams. Despite such treatment, almost next-to-nothing is known of the role beads played in the geographic, economic, and social contexts of the various periods in Bahrain’s past.
It is to elucidate this glossed-over feature of the finds-assemblage and finally accord beads the place they deserve within the context of the various cultures of Bahrain (Dilmun and its sub-cultures, Tylos, and Islamic, with the arrival of the Portuguese on the Islands being a terminus) that my PhD has for its aim the creation of a beads-typology. This typology will be essential to formulating an overall picture of the development of beads in Bahrain as well as the surrounding geographic, social, and political milieus through which the Islands have passed. Among the areas upon which additional light will invariably be shed are the development of bead-types, materials, and manufacturing techniques as well as such things as regional and inter-regional trade, chronology, wealth and status, and the like.
To produce the typology referred to above, a sampling of beads from the various periods already mentioned is presently being made. These beads are stored in the Bahrain National Museum as well as some other institutions of note. Statistical analysis and an examination of the finer points of bead-manufacture will be coupled with regional and inter-regional comparison, thereby providing additional insights into the role of beads in the cross-culture context of this PhD. The results will hopefully represent a useful contribution to Gulf archaeology.
Publications
Essays in edited volumes
- Al-Sadeqi, W. M. (2010). The Bahrain bead project: introduction and illustration. In Death and Burial in Arabia and Beyond: Multidisciplinary perspectives. Weeks, L. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports (International Series). S2107: 153-163.
