Archaeologists in Abu Dhabi have found an 8,000-year-old pearl – the world’s most ancient specimen.

According to Emirati archaeologists, the exquisite natural pearl is proof that valuable objects have been traded since Neolithic times. The pearl was dug up during excavations at Marawah Island, off the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and it will be displayed for the first time publicly in the exhibition 10,000 Years of Luxury, opening on October 30th at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The Marawah site is one of the oldest sites in the country and is made up of numerous collapsed Neolithic stone structures that have yielded ceramics, beads made from shell, and stone and flint arrowheads. But Mohamed al-Muabarak, the chairman of Abu Dhabi’s department of culture and tourism, told the press that the layers from which the pearl came have been carbon-dated to “5,800 – 5,600 BC,” which is why it is being hailed the oldest pearl in the world.

more at ancient-origins.net