Madinat Hamad 1 Burial Mounds Field - Buri
- Category
- Archeology & Heritage
- Area
- HAMAD
This is one of the components of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Dilmun Burial Mounds”. The northernmost of the three Madinat Hamad burial mound fields represents the cemetery of an individual settlement, with 754 mounds preserved. It is also known as the Buri Burial Mound Field. Although it is located very close to the A´ali West cemetery, the two had never been part of the same burial mound field. In fact, a wadi separated the two cemeteries and has since been used for the development of roads and housing.
The tumuli of Madinat Hamad 1 belong to the Late Type burial mounds dating to the period from 2050 to 1700 BCE. The cemetery presents a wide range of different sized burial mounds with diameters between 4 and 13 m. Several of them were plundered in the past, as attested by numerous robber’s holes. There are no excavated mounds. Solely one mound has an exposed ring wall and the grave chamber is still covered. The mound is located at the northern border.
One mound is of particular interest. It is located in the north-western area. The tumulus is of major size with a diameter of about 13 m and surrounded by seven smaller mounds. It can be assumed that this mound represents the tomb of an elite individual with subsidiary burials. While some of these mounds with subsidiary burials have been excavated in the Janabiyah cemetery, an unexcavated example of such distinctiveness is exceptional.
