Int'l archaeological teams arrive in Sharjah

Sharjah, Jan 3, 2011 (WAM) - Archaeological teams from the U.S, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Japan have arrived in Sharjah to start excavations at different ancient locations in the emirate of Sharjah for a better insight into the history of the area. The Belgian mission will start work at the Maleeha site to dig out more underground tombs. Previously, six such tombs containing skeletons were among the finds by this mission. Germany's Tubingen Archaeological Project which is run by the University of Tubingen will join a local team to work at Wadi Helou site where the previous finds which include tombs and copper artefacts and ingots more than 4,000 years old suggest more cab be unearthed. While Japan's Kanazawa University is set to work at Diba Al-Hosn to unearth Islamic pottery imported to the area from China, Iran, Iraq, Thailand and East Asia, the U.S. team from Bryn Mawr College will work on Muweilah site where past findings include prehistoric Arabian settlement as well as Tal Al-Abraq which saw settlement more than two thousand years ago. The Spanish team from Madrid University will continue an archaeological field survey to produce maps covering all the emirate. Archaeological sites in the middle and the eastern coastal areas of the emirate will be worked on by the local teams. - Emirates News Agency, WAM