Al-Aqir near Bahlā'– an Early Bronze Age dam site with planoconvex 'copper' ingots |
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| Authors: | Gerd Weisgerber Paul Yule |
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| Institution: | Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bochum, Germany; , Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Heidelberg, Germany; |
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| Abstract: | Some 20 years ago the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture received an important collection of planoconvex copper ingots, tools and anthropomorphic figures which came from a site at al-Aqir near Bahlā' in the al-Zāhirah Wilāya. Several years elapsed before their provenance could be reconstructed and the site could be investigated. The finds had been deposited as building offerings in a prehistoric, 300 m-long dam built to trap soil and moisture for agricultural purposes. Although the area has been intensively used since at least 3000 BC, the evidence for irrigation installations does not pre-date 2000 BC. The finds are dedicatory rather than functional in nature. |
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