A´ali East Burial Mound Field
- Category
- Archeology & Heritage
- Area
- A´ali
A´ali East is one of the components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, “Dilmun Burial Mounds”. It is the largest of all the Dilmun cemeteries of Bahrain both in dimensions and number of burial mounds. Located to the south of the historical core of A’ali village, it presently hosts a total number of 4,669 tumuli of various size. The mounds date to the period from circa 2050 to 1700 BCE. Like in ancient times, a few wadis (dry water channels) naturally cross the cemetery. The northern part is occupied by the Dilmun Royal cemetery, which contains 17 Royal Mounds, listed as separated components within the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Late Type tumuli occupy most of the A´ali cemetery. Their diameters range between 4 and 10 m. Often, these mounds cluster into small groups or chains. The reason for such arrangements is uncertain, but is most likely rooted in the natural composition of the ground. Several expeditions worked at the A’ali East burial field. In addition to some pioneer explorers in the early 20th century, the Danish Expedition excavated 22 burial mounds in the 1960s, and the archaeologists of the Bahrain Directorate of Archaeology also spent many seasons there in the last thirty years excavating and documenting mounds which were threatened by the increasing urban development in this area.
They notably excavated a particular tumulus in 1982, situated in the northeastern part of the burial field, which yielded more than 140 skeletons. This mass-grave represents thus a major break with the Early Dilmun funerary tradition, which was based on individual burials. This monument also displays an architecture quite different from the other Early Dilmun graves, as it contains multiple chambers and access-shafts. This tumulus was likely built at the very end of the Early Dilmun period, or slightly after, c. 1600 BCE (?). It was also reoccupied during the Late Dilmun period, c. 900-800 BCE
