Bahrah 1: eight years of excavations of an Ubaid culture-related settlement in the al-Sabiyyah desert (Kuwait)

During eight years of Kuwaiti-Polish excavations in the al-Sabiyyah desert in northern Kuwait, a large portion of an Ubaid culture related settlement was excavated. Based on the pottery assemblage, the site can be dated to the Ubaid 2–3 period, with 14C dates placing it at approximately 5579 and 4950 cal BC. Ubaid ware is accompanied at the site by Arabian coarse red ware. Architectural remains of the site stretch for over 180 m and include the remains of over ten houses. Most are multi-chambered structures with rectilinear outlines. Rectilinear architecture was used at BaΉrah 1 from the beginning, although in the last of the site’s four architectural phases curvilinear buildings started to appear as well. In the western unexcavated part of the site, three concentrations of fire-related installations were registered on the surface. The distribution of small finds and lithics provides evidence of the production of shell beads in virtually all the rooms excavated in the settlement. Lithic tools and shell-bead production waste enabled the reconstruction of the beads’ production process. Bahrah 1 dating, together with its ceramic and lithic repertoires, connects Bahrah 1 with the coeval fishing village of H3, located just 7 km away and excavated by a Kuwaiti-British archaeological mission.