New archaeological discoveries in Abu Dhabi

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Nearly 65 years from the first archaeological diggings in Abu Dhabi, new discoveries are emphasizing the role of the emirates in regional and global trade, and the flexibility and novelty of local Bronze Age societies.

Latest diggings on Sas Al Nakhl Island, recognized locally as Umm an-Nar, comprise bitumen matched to foundations in early Mesopotamia, which is modern Iraq used to water-resistant earthenware in addition to a clay-lined storing pit. 

Umm an-Nar is acknowledged for its colossal Bronze Age graveyards. These new discoveries advocate that the place was also a flourishing port of substantial global position, from around 2800-2200 BCE, trading with Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, which is modern Pakistan and India.

30,000 extraordinarily well-preserved bones disclose new understandings into a Bronze Age fare of fish, seabirds and dugongs or sea cows. Bones of enormous animals found focused around a big, circular hearth indicate communal or ritualistic actions. Some of the bones have been worked into stuffs like a spatula and spindles.Archaeologists are of the opinion that Bronze Age findings made in the emirate are only a component of what is yet to be revealed from the Umm an-Nar Bronze Age culture (2700-2000 BCE).

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