Qatar’s oldest known natural pearl bead discovered in ancient grave

A local excavation mission led by Dr Ferhan Sakal, Head of Excavation and Site Management at Qatar Museums, has discovered the oldest known natural pearl bead in Qatar, corresponding to the earliest human settlements on the peninsula.
Dated back to 4600 BCE, the historic find was enclosed within a grave at Wadi Al Debaian, one of country’s oldest Neolithic site.
“Our team has unearthed a find of considerable historic and sociological importance, pointing us to the first traceable origins of Qatar’s human settlements and their use of the locally-occurring pearl enclaves,” Faisal Abdulla Al Naimi, Director of Archaeology at Qatar Museums, said. (TNN)