Researchers to study ancient climate of Bahrain

Manama : For the first time in the Kingdom, a paleoenvironment study to understand the ancient climate of Bahrain will be undertaken by researchers. 

Japanese archaeologists, in collaboration with Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) will be conducting the study using samples from the Wadi Al Sail site in Riffa. 

“This is going to be a significant research because such studies were never conducted in Bahrain. The study will reveal the fluctuations in climate over the course of Bahrain’s history,“ Masahi Abe from Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation told DT News. 

“At around 2200 BC there was a mass immigration to Bahrain. This study could reveal why these people immigrated to Bahrain. From previous studies conducted we found that temperature went down in regions close to Bahrain. We can theorise that Bahrain had a good climate at the time and this could be why the mass immigration to Bahrain occurred. Until now we only have data from other countries in the region and this is not enough,” he said, adding that the study is being conducted with the full support of the government of Bahrain and all findings will be submitted to the government.

Abe and his team will also be excavating burial tombs and documenting details of the historical site. 

“Our project targets the formative years of the Dilmun civilization. To study this time period, Wadi As Sail is very important. In 2007, Danish archaeologists discovered elite tombs at the Wadi Al Sail and from the discovery we realised that the formative years of the civilization was more complex than we estimated,” he said.

“The elite burial mounds found by the Danish team were marked by rings. So we were looking for similar ringed burial mounds. Our efforts did not go in vain as we found three ringed burial mounds. This is an interesting discovery. We will excavate these and hopefully find new information.”