Dubai, March 17: Archaeologists have discovered a flint arrowhead about 3 cm long dating back to the late stone age or neolithic period, near a Abu Dhabi oilfield.

Discovered just south of the Sahil oilfield, 120 kms south-west of Abu Dhabi city during work undertaken for the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), the arrowhead was discovered by Rafique Punathil, a field assistant with the team from GRM International, undertaking the Abu Dhabi Emirate Soil Survey.

According to a leading expert on the UAE’s Late Stone Age, arrowheads of this type were widely manufactured locally between the 6th to 4th Millennium BC.

The raw material used in the manufacturing of this arrowhead may originally have come from the western slopes of the mountains, in the border area between the UAE and Oman.

While similar artifacts have been reported from elsewhere in the desert areas of Abu Dhabi, for example near the Bab oilfield and south of the Liwa Oasis, this is the first artifact of its type known to have been collected in the immediate vicinity of the Sahil and Asab oilfields.

More flint arrowheads and other flint tools may be present in suitable terrain throughout the area. (ANI)