By looking at the site at Hilli we can learn about people’s lives in Hilli. We don’t learn much about people’s lives elsewhere during the same time. This is because the site at Hilli has not been preserved properly and has eroded away over the years. By looking at only the site we can learn what the people were like, how they lived and whether they traded and with whom. We saw that the land was barren and not much grew there anymore, but we can assume that the land would have been fertile because we saw wells at the site which are quite shallow compared to the current level of the water table. This meant that they had water, which, they could reach.
At the site, there were no remains of any houses that the people may have lived in. We think that this is because the houses were probably made of barasti, dried palm leaves, and so they would have decomposed over time. We think that their houses were made of barasti because the tribes that lived in the Emirates more recently used to have houses made of barasti. We know that barasti was easily available because there were and still are lots of palm trees in the area.
We know that the people of Hilli were very skilful. There are remains of large tombs and buildings, which were made of mud brick. Even though the biggest and most impressive building has been reconstructed we still get an idea of how skilful the people were. They were able to collect stone, from the Hajar Mountains, and then shape it to make buildings. By looking at the tomb found at the site, I think that there was some kind of link between the people of Hilli and the people of Um An Nar. We think this because the tombs found in Um An Nar are very similar to the ones found in Hilli. They were built in the same way, separated into similar sections and were of a similar size and shape.
When we visited the site we saw that the land around Hilli I and II had lots of vegetation. We also saw wells built near the original buildings of Hilli I and II. This tells us that the people probably farmed because there was a source of water and the land was, and still is naturally fertile which enables crops to grow. By looking at the reconstructed building at the site, we can learn a little bit about the people’s religion. We know that no bones were found inside the building so we think that it may have been used as a temple. Also the building has been built in a way that it is aligned so one side receives lots of light during the day and the other side doesn’t receive much light. We think this may have some religious significance, like life and death. At the site there are remains of tombs but not houses. This could mean that they built the tombs taking more time and effort because they were important.
However all of the information found solely at the site is not enough for us to learn about the people of Hilli, or any other people during the 3rd millennium. To further increase our knowledge we had to visit the museum where finds from the site of Hilli are kept and we read a source-pack of information. This included archaeological reports of the site and what the archaeologists found there. We read sources about he bones found in the tombs of Hilli. We learnt that the people were tall and healthy. We also know that the people ate many different types of wheat, because one source mentioned what the archaeologists found in a rubbish pit. We also know that they were healthy because they did lots of physical work, like farming and building.
We know that the people knew how to use the raw materials they found around them. They used the environment around them to help them become prosperous. They made buildings and tools from stone. We saw some stone tools at the museum, which showed the skill of the people. Also At the museum we saw copper jewellery, so we know that they knew how to use copper. The people used different methods like castings and hammering to make things from copper. Remains of pots, jewellery and weapons that were found around the site were also exhibited in the museum. All these show us that the people had lots of different skills which they had excelled in.
In the museum we saw many clay and stone pots. The decorations on the pots tell us about the people who lived at Hilli. There were some clay pots, which had decorations of peacocks. This tells us that they probably traded with the Indus Valley where peacocks were common, unlike the area of Hilli. Other stone pots had the concentric ring design, very famous in the Mesopotamian area. We think that Hilli may have these pots because they sold Mesopotamia their stone. The Mesopotamians would then make pots using the stone and sell some of the pots back to Hilli.
