EARLY OBJECTS DATING TO 8,000 BCE UNEARTHED AT SHARJAH IN ONE OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Bronze ore smelting workshops, burial grounds, clay homes, stone tools and anvils are among the items unearthed during the past year in excavations by teams of international archaeologists at sites across Sharjah, on edge of the seven United Arab Emirates. In Mleiha, in the central region of the emirate, one group found remains of homes made of clay, pottery, and burial grounds.

Researchers at a Bronze Age site in Wadi Al Hilo - a center for smelting, near the eastern coast - found many hammers, anvils, and copper slag related to the metal working process. Carbon testing dated the finds between 8,000 BCE and the Islamic era.

Work continues at Tell Abraq, near the border with Umm Al Quwain, which has archaeological sites dating back to between 3,000 BCE and the Stone Age. Ongoing digs at a site in Dibba Al Hisn have revealed trade and commerce connecting the area with other parts of the ancient world. Excavations in Al Faya mountains and Suhaila have also unearthed stone tools that add valuable information to the prehistory of human beings in the area, some dating from up to half a million years ago.

Teams from the Department of Antiquities also worked on several sites in the central and eastern regions of the emirate. In Umm Al Quwain, about 500 tombs dating back 2,000 years was found at Ed-Dur, one of the largest archaeological sites in the country. Excavations also uncovered pearls, iron and bronze arrowheads, pottery and glassware. The antiquities found at Ed-Dur are being restored and will go on display at the local museum.

Edited from The National UAE (5 January 2016)
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