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There are practically
no archaeological sites in the U.A.E. which have not yielded
some remains, however meagre, of human adornment. Sites from
the late Stone Age (6th-4th millennium B.C.) are often replete
with beads of shell, bone and stone which would have once been
strung in necklaces and bracelets. Marine shells and mother-of-pearl
were sometimes artfully carved; imported stones like agate and
carnelian from the Indus Valley (particularly from Gujarat)
were highly sought after. Precious metals, including gold and
silver, are present in small quantities and can be seen in the
museums of Fujairah and Ras al-Khaimah. The recovery of nearly
13,000 beads in the late 3rd millennium tomb at Al-Sufouh in
Dubai (the finds from which can be seen in the Dubai Museum)
gives us an indication of just how much jewellery was used to
adorn the dead of the region during the Bronze Age.
There is some suggestion that magical amulets may have played
a part in jewellery as well. Early Islamic writers provide a
considerable amount of information on the magical properties
of amulets worn by men, women and children - amulets used as
charms against disease, the evil-eye, to bring good luck, etc.
Steatite pendants, probably worn around the neck as centrepieces
in necklaces, have been found at a number of Iron Age sites
in the U.A.E. and may have served a similar function. The Indus
Valley, which had a prodigious industry in the manufacture of
steatite and faience micro-beads (so-called because of their
minute size), exported thousands of such beads to other parts
of the Near East, including southeastern Arabia. |
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