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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Archaeol.
Sec. Archaeological Isotope Analysis
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fearc.2024.1406999
This article is part of the Research Topic Isotopic Research on Past Residential Mobility in the Aegean and its Immediate Periphery View all articles

Immigration patterns inferred from oxygen isotope analysis of human teeth from the Tylos-period Maqaba burial mounds in Bahrain

Provisionally accepted
Yu Itahashi Yu Itahashi 1*Kenji Okazaki Kenji Okazaki 2Kazuhisa Yoshimura Kazuhisa Yoshimura 3Kiyohide Saito Kiyohide Saito 4
  • 1 University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
  • 2 Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Tottori, Japan
  • 3 Central Institute of Radioisotope Science and Safety, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
  • 4 The Museum, Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, Nara, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The aim of this study was to determine the geographic origin of human remains in the Maqaba burial mounds cluster dating from the Tylos period (approximately 330 BC to AD 300) in Bahrain, using stable oxygen isotope analysis of dental enamel from teeth found in the mounds. During the Tylos period, Bahrain was an important hub for trade routes between the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and India. Therefore, immigrants who traveled as merchants for cross-regional trade are possible candidates for the buried remains. In particular, we hypothesized that these tombs are occupied by Palmyrene settlers who migrated from Syria to Bahrain. To test this hypothesis, we performed a detailed oxygen isotope analysis of dental enamel from skeletons in the mound to infer their geographic origins. Oxygen isotopic signatures of water from modern springs, wells, precipitation, and bottled water sourced from Bahraini wells were used as contemporary proxies for ancient oasis water, allowing a comparison to be made between enamel and water compositions. Our results indicate that many of the individuals interred in the Maqaba burial mounds cluster originated from more northerly latitudes than that of Bahrain, suggesting that they were immigrants who were involved in trade or administration, rather than native Bahrainis. Future studies are expected to provide more archaeological evidence that will clarify the exact origins of these immigrants.

    Keywords: oxygen isotopes1, carbon isotopes2, carbonate3, human teeth4, immigration5, Bahrain6, Burial mound7, Tylos period8

    Received: 26 Mar 2024; Accepted: 16 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Itahashi, Okazaki, Yoshimura and Saito. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yu Itahashi, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

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