Abstract
<jats:p>Stratified sites at Jebel Faya in the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah provide evidence for successive ‘facies’ of the Neolithic period. The oldest facies — found at <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FAY</jats:styled-content>‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NE</jats:styled-content> 1 — yielded <jats:sup>14</jats:sup>C dates in the late ninth millennium cal <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">BC</jats:styled-content> and is characterised by blade arrowheads which are morphologically similar to <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">PPNB</jats:styled-content> points. With <jats:sup>14</jats:sup>C dates from the late eighth and early seventh millennia cal <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">BC</jats:styled-content>, a techno‐complex of large flint artefacts from <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FAY</jats:styled-content>‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NE</jats:styled-content>10 represents the second Neolithic facies in the area. A sheep tooth from <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FAY</jats:styled-content>‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NE</jats:styled-content>10, associated to the third facies — characterised by trihedral rods — provides evidence for a Neolithic economy. The respective layer contains numerous small fragments of cremated human bone. It dates to around 6000 cal <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">BC</jats:styled-content>. The fourth facies corresponds to the well‐known ‘Arabian Bifacial Tradition’ and has radiocarbon dates from just before 5000 cal <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">BC</jats:styled-content> to just after 4000 cal <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">BC</jats:styled-content>. The Final Neolithic — found at shell‐middens on the coast of the Gulf of Oman — is to date not represented in the interior.</jats:p>