Archaeological excavations cast a new light on Abu Dhabi’s earliest inhabitants
Remarkable discoveries by archaeologists from Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (at ancient sites on the island of Marawah and in Baynunah have revealed new information on Abu Dhabi’s earliest inhabitants, evidencing a rich history stretching back over 7,000 years.
Artefacts excavated from a village on the island of Marawah and in Baynunah indicate that during this time, a sophisticated and highly skilled population were able to trade and thrive in challenging conditions and adapt to the changing environment around them.
TCA Archaeologist Abdulla al-Kharbi excavating and recording the 7000 year old house on the island of Marawah.
Marawah Island:
On the island of Marawah, just off the coast of Abu Dhabi, excavations have revealed one of the earliest stone-built villages in the Arabian Gulf. The new excavations, completed in October last year, focused on one of seven mounds in the village, and revealed a structure with three joining stonebuilt rooms. TCA Abu Dhabi Coastal Heritage archaeologist Abdulla Khalfan Al Kaabi said, “Radiocarbon dating of the deposits show that the village dates back more than 7,500 years to the Neolithic period. This style of architecture is unique for this period and has never been found before in the region.”
Hundreds of artefacts have also allowed archaeologists piece together what life was like for these villagers and inhabitants 7,500 years ago. The ancient people herded sheep and goat, and used stone tools to hunt and butcher other animals like gazelles. The large amounts of fish, dugong, turtle, and dolphin bones show how people had come to understand the sea and use its resources for food and sustenance. The excavation also found very fine, small beads made from shell and a small shark’s tooth, which had been very carefully drilled, which archaeologists believe were probably worn as an adornment.
View of the 7000 year old house on the island of Marawah.
Archaeologists and experts also found during previous excavations at the site a complete and highly decorated ceramic jar, made in Iraq, which gives evidence to the fact that the inhabitants of Marawah also used the sea for trade. This jar was transported more than a thousand kilometres and is early evidence for the beginnings of long-distance maritime trade in the Arabian Gulf.
Marawah inhabitants enjoyed a climate that had more rainfall than exists today. Around 6,000 years ago, however, the situation changed and the area became very arid. Following the abandonment of the village, some of the rooms were used for burial purposes. Two skeletons were found, each in a crouched position with the head facing towards the east. Ahmed Abdalla Elhag Elfaki, archaeologist at TCA Abu Dhabi, commented, “This form of burial is typical of other known Late Stone Age burials, such as those known from Jebel Buhais in Sharjah”. Efforts to examine the skeletal remains by experts are underway to determine more information about their age and health.
Baynunah
View of the remains of 6500 year hunted camels on the surface of the site of Baynunah
The new excavations at Baynunah, about 130 kilometers south-west of Abu Dhabi, revealed a different side of ancient life in the Emirate. The desert surface of this site is littered with white fragments of ancient wild camel bones. These are the remains of wild camels that were hunted and killed 6,500 years ago. Research has shown that people lured the animals into the soft, wet ground at Baynunah, where these camels would lose their footing, and eventually become trapped.
“Hunting these large wild animals must have been a serious challenge, so slowing them down gave the hunters their best opportunity to kill and harvest more camels,” added Elfaki. “The discovery of a flint arrowhead inside the rib cage of one of the wild camels shows the tools used for hunting the animals and how they were hunted”.
6500 year old flint used for hunting wild camels at Baynunah.
Baynunah has provided the earliest evidence from anywhere in the Middle East for the mass killing of wild camels. By hunting these animals, people would have also understood more about the wild camel’s natural habits. This information was important for domesticating camels much later. It is no coincidence, perhaps, that evidence from other scientific research is now pointing to South Eastern Arabia as the location of initial camel domestication.
The meat from these camels was an important source of food for people at a time when other resources were becoming scarce. A major hunt would have produced enough food for a community and sharing this meat would have strengthened social bonds. Other sites, such as Al Sufouh in Dubai, have revealed evidence for the continuation of this style of camel hunting into the Bronze Age.
Experts working at Baynunah are now conducting research that will allow them to discover more about the biology of wild camels, now that near-complete skeletons are found on the site. This is particularly significant since wild camels became extinct hundreds, if not thousands of years ago, and very little documentation and research is available about them today.
