Excavations at Hilla Archaeological Site, Bahrain (2024–2025)
Keywords:
Middle Dilmun, funerary traditions, beads, Tylos period, faience artefactAbstract
Beneath the Islamic-period deposits at Hilla Archaeological Site, excavations by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities uncovered a Middle Dilmun collective burial and several burials dating to the Tylos period. The Middle Dilmun burial contained the remains of two adult females and an infant, indicating the successive reuse of the burial space over time. The burial was accompanied by a rich assemblage of grave-goods, including a faience figurine and numerous beads made from shell, pearl, and a variety of semi-precious stones. The Tylos-period remains comprised an adult male burial and three infant jar burials, none of which was associated with grave-goods. Together, these discoveries provide new insights into mortuary practices in Bahrain during the Middle Dilmun and Tylos periods. The stratigraphic sequence at Hilla offers rare evidence for the long-term use of the site as a funerary landscape and contributes to broader discussions of continuity and change in burial traditions across these periods.
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