Dubai: Archaeological tools dating back to the Stone Age have been discovered in the east of Sharjah near the Hajar Mountains, officials announced yesterday.
A group of experts from Sharjah's Archaeology Department, Tubingen University in Germany and Oxford University in England discovered the prehistoric workshop on a limestone hilltop along the Hajar Mountains. The workshop was used to make stone tools during the Middle Palaeolithic era, according to Dr Sabah Jasim, Director of Antiquities in Sharjah.
Tests conducted by experts showed the antiquities originated from the middle of the Old Stone Age. The Middle Palaeolithic is the second subdivision of the Old Stone Age in Europe, Africa and Asia, which dates between 300,000 and 30,000 years ago.
The investigation and research were done under the directions of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and under the patronage of the Culture and Education Department in Sharjah.
Only a small sample of the artefacts were removed, they are currently being displayed during a conference held in London to study Arab antiques.
