Neolithic settlement pattern and environment evolution along the coast of the northern UAE: the case of Umm al-Quwain UAQ36 vs. UAQ2 and Akab shell-middens

Abstract

New data on the Neolithic occupation of the northern UAE coast were collected during the 2017–2018 excavations at the shellmidden site of UAQ36. Although so far limited to a fifth-millennium occupation, this data can be contextualized within the broader research programme of the French Archaeological Mission in the Emirate of Umm al-Quwain. When compared to the previously excavated Neolithic sites of UAQ2 (last third of the sixth–beginning of the fourth millennium) and Akab (second third of the fifth–beginning of the fourth millennium), this new data can be used to discuss the nature of the Neolithic occupation along the UAE Gulf coast, which overall attests a good and recurring adaptation of the human communities to the changing surrounding environment.