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UAE Yearbook 2010
and neolithic (early and late stone age) through the bronze age and iron age to the late pre-islamic era and then into the 1400 years of the islamic period. some important results from recent work, in particular from the winter 2008 2009 season, were also unveiled. new discoveries with over a dozen foreign archaeological teams working in the uae each year, along with the work undertaken by local departments in each emirate, it is not possible to provide a full summary of all of the recent major discoveries. a brief overview both of results presented to the conference and of other activities, however, is sufficient to provide an indication of the scope of the work, and of the way in which study of the archaeology of the emirates has continued to make finds of international significance. in some cases, these are unique within the arabian gulf region. one, however, has no parallel anywhere else in the world the identification by a french team of a religious sanctuary at akab, in umm al-qaiwain, that comprised a large mound of carefully placed bones of the dugong, an endangered marine mammal found in the indo-pacific. dating back to the fifth millennium bc, in the neolithic or late stone age period, the sanctuary sheds important light on cultural practices of the period. no other site indicating veneration of dugongs is known anywhere else in the middle east and the only other sites anywhere that have dugongs as their focus are from northern australia, built by the aboriginal population in the last few hundred years. also dating to the neolithic period and related to animals is another site in the middle of the desert in abu dhabi s western (al gharbia) region. excavations undertaken by a team from the abu dhabi authority for culture and heritage (adach), france s cnrs and oxford brookes university from britain have identified the skeletons of several dozen camels along with flint tools, suggesting that the site may provide important information on ancient hunting techniques. studies of the bones will also contribute to a greater understanding of arabia s wild camels as much as 3000 years before the species was domesticated. further knowledge of the neolithic period has come from continuing studies by a team from germany s university of tubingen, working with the sharjah directorate of antiquities, of the skeletons of more than 500 people excavated from one of the uae s most important neolithic sites, at jebel buhais. the studies have shown a high rate of injuries to the skull, a possible indication of widespread violence between different groups of the population. at the time, the climate in the uae was becoming more arid, with an increasing shortage of water and other resources, and it has been suggested by the archaeologists that 17 > uncovering the past
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