Archival practices in Early Dilmun Bahrain as indicated by glyptic evidence from domestic and institutional contexts (poster)

Abstract

There is a considerable body of seal impressions from a limited number of sites on Bahrain and Failaka. Available evidence from the City Ilb-c period indicates that sealing practices were not limited to a small, privileged section of Dilmun society. Moreover, in institutional and domestic settings broken sealings appear to have been stored for some time before being discarded, often in discrete batches, which suggests the existence of a widely adopted accounting system. Stratigraphical and spatial distribution of sealings, especially in combination with the designs of the seals imprinted on them, are important proxies for the level of connectivity within Early Dilmun society and the place of these households therein. This paper addresses some implications of these sealings for understanding Dilmun's socio-economic structure and organization.