The absence of a detailed written history is all too often interpreted as an indication of a lack of history or historical events. In the context of the UAE this impression, as archaeological and historical research has shown, could not be further from the truth.
Since 1959, when archaeological excavations first began on Umm al-Nar island near Abu Dhabi, archaeologists from a dozen countries, as well as local officials from an ever-increasing number of museums throughout the UAE, have been tracking the earliest residents of the Emirates from the desert and islands of Abu Dhabi in the west to the mountains of Fujairah in the east. The archaeological record in the region reaches back many millennia and numerous archaeological sites in the UAE reveal an intriguing story of life in the past.
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