Marawah
Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey ( ar, مَرَوَح, Marawaḥ) is a low-lying
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
off the coast of the
Western Region of the
Emirate of Abu Dhabi
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi (, , or ; ar, إِمَارَةْ أَبُوظَبِي , ) is one of seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is by far the largest emirate, accounting for 87% of the nation's total land area o ...
, the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
. The island is north of the Khor al-Bazm (lagoon) along the Abu Dhabi coastline in the southern
Gulf
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...
.
Geology and geography
Current research indicates that the island was formed from relict
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
limestone platforms linked by
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
sand and beach deposits and intervening patches of ''
sabkha
A sabkha ( ar, سبخة) is a coastal, supratidal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal p ...
''. Marawah is located west of the city and capital,
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
. The island is around from east to west and about from north to south. There are three islands in proximity to Marawah: the small island of
Al Fiyah to the west, the island of
Junaina to the southeast, and the island of
Abu al Abyad Abu al Abyad (formerly Abu al Jirab) is the largest of about 200 islands along the coast of the United Arab Emirates. It is situated in the emirate of Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most ...
in the east.
Environment and Protection
Marawah island is in the Marawah Biosphere Reserve, as recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and is one of the six marine protected areas in the Zayed Network of Protected Areas, a network managed by the
Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi.
History
The west first became aware of the island around 1829 when the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
recorded its location in a nautical survey of the Persian Gulf.
Archaeology
Although privately owned, the island is a key center of
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
. Recent excavations yielded a small natural pearl that was
carbon dated
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was dev ...
to 5800/5600 BCE.
In 1992, the
Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey
The Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS) was established in 1992 on the instruction of the late President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to survey for, record and where appropriate, excavate archaeological sites on the coast and islan ...
(ADIAS) completed a preliminary survey of the island. Archeologists identified 13 sites dating from the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
to the
Islamic Period (12-13 AD).
In 2004, ADIAS discovered the oldest human skeleton ever found in the region amid the remains of Neolithic buildings and over 200 flint tools.
DNA was extracted from teeth that were recovered from the site, and it was determined that the remains were about 7,500 years old.
References
External links
UAE History 20,000 - 2,000 years ago
UAE Interact Map Room
{{coord, 24, 17, N, 53, 15, E, region:AE_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title
Islands of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi
Archaeological sites in the United Arab Emirates
Biosphere reserves of the United Arab Emirates
Former populated places in the United Arab Emirates
Western Region, Abu Dhabi
Private islands of Asia