Recent studies have shown that the estimated/approximately 350,000 ancient grave mounds could have been solely produced by the local population over a number of thousands of years[vague].

[5] A Danish group in the 1950s was excavating at Qal'at al-Bahrain, the capital city of the Bronze Age, when they opened some tumuli and discovered items dating to around 4100–3700 BP of the same culture.

[8][9] Each of the tumuli is composed of a central stone chamber that is enclosed by a low ring-wall and covered by earth and gravel.

[8][9] Attempts to protect the burial mounds have run into opposition by religious fundamentalists who consider them unIslamic and have called for them to be concreted over for housing.

During a parliamentary debate on 17 July 2005, the leader of the Salafist al Asalah party, Sheikh Adel Mouwda, said "Housing for the living is better than the graves for the dead.