The Stone Age
100000 - 3000 BC
The people of Sharjah’s later Stone Age were herders moving between the coastal regions and the inland plains to take advantage of seasonal variations in climate. The lagoons, mudflats and mangrove swamps on the coast offered easily obtained food, including shellfish, fish, turtle and dugong, while the interior provided hunting grounds and open grassland for their herds of sheep, goats and cattle.
Archaeological remains from this period include many finely crafted weapons and jewellery, such as those found at Jebel al-Buhais in Sharjah’s central region. The nomadic herders returned to al-Buhais each year in late winter and spring to rest their herds and bury their dead. Their tools were so fine that they were able to drill holes through pearls and seashells to make beautiful necklaces and other ornaments. The jewellery and other personal ornaments found buried with the dead indicate a well developed tradition of craftsmanship. Baskets and wooden objects may have also been made but these have not survived through time.
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Finely crafted arrowheads used for hunting in the Stone Age
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A grave from the Jebel al-Buhais Stone Age graveyard
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