UAE | Heritage and Culture

4,000-year-old copper artefacts unearthed in Sharjah's Wadi Helou

Copper artefacts more than 4,000 years old were discovered at a new site in Sharjah, the department of culture and information announced yesterday.

  • By Mariam M. Al Serkal Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 April 16, 2007
  • Gulf News

Sharjah: Copper artefacts more than 4,000 years old were discovered at a new site in Sharjah, the department of culture and information announced yesterday.

A large semi-spherical copper ingot weighing almost five kilograms was unearthed at a new site in Wadi Helou in the Eastern Region during a joint archaeological excavation project.

Direct proof

The project, being undertaken by the Directorate of Antiquities and the Institute of Pre- and Proto-history and Medieval Archaeology of the University of Tubingen, Germany, made the discoveries during the months of February and March this year.

Headed by Dr Sabbah Jasem and Professor Hans-Peter Uerpmann, the team said during an excavation last year they found indications of early industrial exploitation of copper ore in the Wadi Helou area.

The site was mapped and test excavations were made in February and March this year. The ingot serves as direct proof of production of copper from local ore.

According to the investigating team, copper was produced at this site during two periods, one in the early Bronze Age more than 4,000 years ago, and the other during the Islamic period.

The early phase is of particular interest because it is the first site in the UAE under scientific exploration with regard to the production of copper during the early Bronze Age.

There are now numerous finds of stone tools from a period which may go back to thousands of years. International specialists from the US and Ukraine were invited to study these finds.

  • Rate this article
  • Average reader rating (0 votes) 0 Stars
Tools

Emailing an article to friend is a simple way to share a news item. Your friend will receive an email with your name and email address as well any personal message you choose to send.

The information you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited emails.

This service is not intended to encourage spam, and action may be taken against individuals who maliciously enter personal details of another individual.

Share this article

More from UAE Heritage & Culture

  1. Pictures: Khalifa tours Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort, facilities

  2. World's longest painting on display at Al Qasba

  3. Rare, ancient Quran copies on display

  4. Journey through time

All articles in Heritage & Culture

More from UAE

Gulf News
Popular in UAE
Living in untidy homes
Have your say

Living in untidy homes

Do you think that people who live in untidy homes have bad character?

Latest news
Community Reports

More from Community Reports

Weather

More from Weather