Archaeologists working in the United Arab Emirates have uncovered a series of monumental shell-mounds encrusted with thousands of natural pearls, dating back over 4,500 years. The discovery at a site near Umm Al Quwain suggests these mounds served as the focal point for seasonal maritime festivals where the harvest of the sea was ritually celebrated by the Dilmun civilization.
The excavation revealed that the pearls were not used as currency but were deliberately embedded into the clay layers of the mounds alongside fish bones and turtle carapaces. This ritualistic placement indicates a sophisticated belief system centered on the ocean's fertility, providing the earliest physical evidence for the "Festival of the Pearl" which persists in regional oral traditions today.