Stone Age settlement found on Gulf island

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered the remains of Stone Age houses dating from 7,000 years ago on an island off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

The foundations of three dwellings were found on Marawah island, 60 miles west of the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.

The site also yielded a flint spearhead about 3in long, a flint arrowhead and a grinding stick, said Mark Beech, the senior resident archaeologist of the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey.

Mr Beech said the team suspected there were more house remains to be found.

"These structures are amazing in terms of historic importance. They are the best and most complete structures found in the whole [Gulf] region," Mr Beech said.

Less well-preserved remains of houses have been found in Kuwait and Qatar.

Samples examined at Glasgow University showed the houses date to 6,500-7,000 years ago, which is about 2,000 years before the earliest Pharaoh in Egypt.

The houses belong to what is called the Arabian Neolithic Era, which corresponds to the Late Stone Age. Their walls are about 18in thick and built of local stone.

Pieces of Ubaid pottery from southern Mesopotamia, today’s Iraq, were found at other sites on Marawah island, showing that its settlers were involved in maritime trade.