He goes on to state:[2] "There are some good masonry wells inland and a ruined fort built by Ali-bin-Khalifah, late Shaikh of Bahrain, who used to spend part of the cold weather here."

[3] For the most part, the area consists of level rocky plains and is accentuated with occasional low hillocks, depressions (rawdas) and furrows.

During rainy season, its multiple depressions would accommodate vast reservoirs of rainwater, which would supplement already-existing wells in the area, one of which is presently being used for a date palm plantation.

The better portion of these burial sites are in abhorrent conditions as a result of grave robbers, chemical and wind weathering, human traffic and recreational off-roading.

Similar ancient cemeteries have been observed at Ar Rakiyat to the north and at a smaller scale near the city of Al Khor on the eastern coast.

Although the first official estimate of tombs was put at roughly 50 by the Danes in late 1950s, a German archaeological team that conducted a preliminary survey of the site in 2008 claimed there were at least a few hundred, if not thousands of mounds.

[5] British archaeologist Beatrice de Cardi and her team were the first to study the settlement at Umm Al Maa in any great detail.

Remnants of various stone structures were observed, but the majority were associated fire pits, prayer areas, barns and tent corrals, all of which would point towards more recent origins.

The team theorized that the ancient cairns were likely constructed by nomads rather than settled peoples, as the climate and geography of the area discouraged a sedentary lifestyle.

[7] In 1957, an ancient graveyard containing 50 cairns was found here by a Danish archaeological duo consisting of Geoffrey Bibby and Peter Glob.

[8] Picking up where the Danes left off was a Japanese archaeological mission which comprised Masatoshi A Konishi, Takeshi Gotoh and Yoshihiko Akashi.

Artifacts recovered from the chamber include a little circular bead made of dark transparent flint glass and fragments of a bronze or copper bowl.

[12] Archaeologist Muhammad Abdul Nayeem has stated that these burials were reminiscent of graves purportedly built by nomads in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia around the third millennium BC.