The oldest pearl in history, dating back about 7,500 years ago, was discovered in a Neolithic site in the UAE, announced the french archaeologists who recently examined it.

According to researchers from the Centre National Recherche Scientifique français (CNRS), which announced the discovery Thursday in a statement, so far, researchers popularized the idea that the oldest pearl in the world - dating back to 5000 ago years - came from a prehistoric site in Japan.

Pearl was discovered in a human settlement on the Persian Gulf coast, Umm al-Quwain 2, in United Arab Emirates, has been carbon dated 14 and was created 7,500 years ago.

"These results, combined with previous pearls findings made ​on the southeast coast of Arabia, attesting the existence of oldest fishing practices for shells who are producing pearls in the world, to this region", for their aesthetic value, sometimes used for rituals.

"Fine pearls had a special place in funeral rites. The pearl discovered flawless, was found in the tomb of a man in the cemetery of Umm al Quwain 2. In other cemeteries, pearls were placed on the deceased, especially over his upper lip" , scientists explained.

Studies published in the journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy of french archaeologists and historians, shows what importance the pearls had for ancient human communities in the Persian Gulf and north of Indian Ocean, representing a major element of their cultural identity.

Analysis of this pearl was performed by laboratories Archeologies sciences et de l'antique (ArScAn) from Paris.


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