The United Arab Emirates' Earliest Buildings Are 8,500 Years Old

Found off the coast of Abu Dhabi, the structures likely served as houses for Ghagha Island’s Neolithic inhabitants

Jane Recker
March 29, 2022 5:01 p.m.



The finds suggest that the islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi weren't "arid and inhospitable" thousands of years ago, but rather a "fertile coast" ripe for settlement. DCT Abu Dhabi

Archaeologists off the coast of Abu Dhabi have unearthed the oldest known buildings in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reports Jeevan Ravindran for CNN. The circular structures on the island of Ghagha are at least 8,500 years old, making them 500 years older than the previous titleholder.

Researchers with the local Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT Abu Dhabi) made the discovery as part of an emirate-wide archaeological program, reports local newspaper the National. Described in a statement as “simple round rooms,” the structures likely served as “houses for a small community who may have lived on the island year-round.” Their surviving stone walls stand a little over three feet tall.

It’s unclear exactly when the settlement was active, notes Heritage Daily, but pieces of charcoal found at the site have been carbon dated to around 6500 B.C.E. The team also uncovered hundreds of stone arrowheads and other hunting tools. In one section of the ruins, the researchers found the remains of a person buried almost 5,000 years ago, suggesting the site “remained an important part of the cultural landscape” for millennia, according to the statement.

“These archaeological finds have shown that people were settling and building homes here 8,500 years ago,” says Mohamed Al Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, in the statement. “The discoveries on Ghagha Island highlight that the characteristics of innovation, sustainability and resilience have been part of the DNA of the inhabitants of this region for thousands of years.”

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-united-arab-emirates-earliest-buildings-are-8500-years-old-180979835/