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Dubai: The Spanish Archaeological mission from Madrid University is continuing its excavation works at Al Thuqaiba site in Al Madam area, in the central region of Sharjah, in cooperation with the Sharjah Department of Archaeology at the Culture and Information Department.
Older discoveries at the iron-age site include mud houses, one of which was in good condition, which contain eight rooms and a hall, as well as full units with plaster-covered walls.
Inside the rooms, various types of iron-age pottery were found, as well as a workshop to manufacture mud bricks. There were also underground water channels, which proved that the community at that age was reliant on agriculture.
The channels discovered so far span over 20 metres and are 5 metres deep. More channels are expected to be found during the next season, which starts by the end of this year.
The department started erecting a fence around the site to protect it.
Meanwhile the American archaeological mission from Bryn Mawr College continued its excavation works at the Muwaileh site, which is a big iron-age colony 15km off the Sharjah coast and 45km off Al Dhaid meadow.
The site, which dates back to between 1,300 and 600 BC, contains a number of buildings surrounded by a wall, which were used for housing and storage.
These rooms included decorated pottery, iron weapons and hundreds of bronze utensils, which indicated that there was a bronze-manufacturing workshop in the area. Some of the articles found were imported from Iraq, Iran and Yemen, which indicated the large-scale commercial movement between these areas.
Latest excavations revealed new parts of the surrounding wall, and parts of a huge circular tower at one of the site's corners.
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