Archaeologists Shed New Light On Life In The Uae 5,000 Years Ago

27 Aug, 2017

Archaeological work by a team of local and international experts has restarted after 30 years on a culturally and historically significant site in Al Ain which is reputed to be one of the earliest agricultural-based villages in the United Arab Emirates.

The site, Hili 8, located near Hili Archaeological Park in Al Ain, was first explored and excavated by French archaeologists in the 1970s and 1980s and provided tentative evidence for the beginnings of date, wheat and barley cultivation thousands of years ago.

A complete account of these excavations has remained unpublished due to the untimely death of the chief archaeologist, but the team’s excavations played a key role in understanding the development of oasis agriculture in Al Ain millennia ago and helped areas of the city to be inscribed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Press Release