Inside Sharjah's World Heritage site where humanity thrived 210,000 years ago

An ancient desert landscape in Sharjah recognised by the UN has been hailed as an example of “human resilience” after sustaining life as civilisation was gripped by an ice age.

The Faya palaeolandscape won Unesco World Heritage status in July and includes one of the oldest uninterrupted records of archaic human habitation, dating back more than 210,000 years.

The National took a tour in the company of experts who have told of its significance not only to the story of the Gulf region, but the wider world.

“This is one of the oldest sites of human settlement outside Africa,” said Eisa Yousif, director general of the Sharjah Archaeology Authority.

“It shows not only early dispersal, but sustained human presence, even during dry periods. That continuity is what makes the site exceptional.”

The Faya palaeolandscape refers broadly to the Faya range, a chain of limestone outcrops, and the surrounding desert.

The rugged Sharjah terrain which sustained human life for thousands of years. Ahmed Ramzan for The National

The striking landscape holds the secrets to how early humans adapted, returned and survived across the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, despite upheavals in climate.

Paleolithic refers to the earliest Stone Age, when humans lived as hunter-gatherers using simple stone tools, while the Neolithic marks a later period characterised by more settled communities, evolving technologies and early social organisation.

Evidence from caves, rock shelters and open-air sites shows that early humans did not pass through Arabia, they settled here, finding ways to live in an environment shaped by cycles of rainfall and extreme aridity.

The Faya palaeolandscape achieved UN World Heritage status in July. Ahmed Ramzan for The National

Tools of progress

At the heart of Al Faya’s story are its stone tools – tens of thousands of artefacts that trace the evolution of human technology and creativity.

At Faya 1, a rock shelter within the site’s core zone, archaeologists have documented about 35,000 stone tools, including elongated flakes and blades.

“These tools are important because they help us understand migration routes,” said Dr Osama Khalil, World Heritage expert at the Sharjah Archaeology Authority.

“The elongated flakes and blades support a southern dispersal route into Arabia, where people settled because th