MOESGAARD, DENMARK—According to a report in The Copenhagen Post, archaeologists from the Moesgaard Museum have found a 3,500-year-old jewelry workshop from the Dilmun culture on the tiny island of Failaka, which is located off the coast of Kuwait. The Dilmun culture, centered in Failaka, Bahrain, and possibly Qatar, was known as a Bronze Age trade hub for the major cities of Mesopotamia. But the trade network is thought to have collapsed around 1700 B.C., when its temples and cities were abandoned. “We have found the remains of a jewelry workshop in buildings from the period between 1700 and 1600 B.C.,” explained senior scientist Flemming Højland. “We found bits and pieces of semi-precious stones that do not exist naturally on the island of Failaka, but were imported—probably from India and Pakistan.” The jewelry suggests that the people living on Failaka resumed trade with people living to the east after the collapse of the established trade routes. To read in-depth about Failaka, go to “Archaeology Island.”
