Towards an Archaeology of African Presence in Bahrain (7th-20th Century AD): Pottery, toponyms, and

The history of people of African descent in the Arabian-Persian Gulf is long, complex, and largely absent from archaeological scholarship. From pre-Islamic times through the modern period, Africans moved across the Red Sea and Indian Ocean as traders, migrants, labourers, and communities whose material traces remain poorly understood. This book attempts the first sustained archaeological investigation of the African diaspora in the Gulf, centred on Bahrain as a key node in these transregional networks. Drawing on original excavations and museum collections in Bahrain and beyond, it foregrounds pottery traditions rooted in eastern Africa, particularly the Swahili coast and the Horn of Africa. Combining archaeological analysis with historical, ethnographic, and toponymic evidence, the study demonstrates how material culture can recover African presence where written sources fall silent. The book establishes a new foundation for understanding African presence in the Gulf and opens a long-neglected field of archaeological inquiry.