Sharjah: An international research project has uncovered new evidence that early humans repeatedly occupied the Buhais Rockshelter in Sharjah over tens of thousands of years, challenging long-held assumptions about human settlement in southeastern Arabia.

The study, published on Monday in Nature Communications and titled “Evidence from Buhais Rockshelter for human settlement in Arabia between 60,000 and 16,000 years ago,” was led by Eisa Yousif, Director-General of the Sharjah Archaeology Authority (SAA), and Dr. Sabah Jasim, Advisor to the Sharjah Archaeology Authority (SAA), in collaboration with Dr. Knut Bretzke of Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Professor Adrian Parker of Oxford Brookes University, alongside researchers from the universities of Tübingen and Freiburg in Germany.

“The publication of this study marks an important step in advancing our understanding of early human history in this region. The evidence from Buhais demonstrates that southeastern Arabia was not simply a passage for early humans, but a landscape where they returned, adapted, and sustained life across changing environmental conditions," Yousif said.

The findings, based on archaeological excavations at Buhais Rockshelter within Sharjah’s Faya UNESCO World Heritage site, add a significant new chapter to the early settlement history of the Arabian Peninsula.

They challenge the long-standing assumption that the region was largely uninhabited between 60,000 and 12,000 years ago due to extreme aridity during the last glacial period, extending the well-established Jebel Faya archaeological sequence into this previously undocumented timeframe.

The results identified multiple phases of human presence at the site, dating to approximately 125,000, 59,000, 35,000, and 16,000 years ago. Notably, the latter three occupation phases were previously undocumented, filling critical gaps in the archaeological record of the region.

Rather than representing a single period of habitation, the evidence confirmed that Buhais Rockshelter served as a recurring site of human activity, reflecting the ability of early populations to adapt to shifting environmental conditions.

Supported by additional palaeoenvironmental research conducted within the Faya Palaeolandscape, the study demonstrated that these occupation phases coincided with periods of increased water availability—providing the first clear evidence of such a pattern in Arabia during the timeframe between 60,000 and 12,000 years ago.

Southeastern Arabia has long been regarded as a key corridor for early human movement into Asia. The new findings provided empirical evidence of human presence at this critical junction during multiple stages of human evolution, positioning the region—and its archaeological and environmental record—at the centre of ongoing scientific discourse on global human migration and the formation of early populations in Southwest Asia.

The publication challenged long-standing assumptions that southeastern Arabia was largely uninhabitable during periods of extreme aridity in the Late Pleistocene. Instead, the findings revealed that phases of increased rainfall and water availability created habitable conditions, supporting vegetation and enabling human life. These environmental shifts allowed early populations not only to pass through the region, but to return and settle repeatedly over extended periods.

The Buhais Rockshelter played a key role in preserving this record. Its limestone formation provided natural protection, allowing layers of sediment to accumulate over thousands of years. Within these layers, stone tools and artefacts were preserved in sequence—offering a rare, stratified record of human activity across changing climatic conditions.

Over millennia, these deposits formed stratified sediment layers reaching depths of around 1.7 metres, within which stone tools and artefacts remained preserved. Using luminescence dating techniques to determine when these layers were last exposed to sunlight, researchers were able to reconstruct a detailed timeline of human presence and environmental change.

Together with nearby sites such as Jebel Faya, the discoveries contribute to the broader significance of the Faya Palaeolandscape, recognised for preserving one of the most important archaeological records of early human occupation in southeastern Arabia.

Located within the Faya Palaeolandscape—inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2025—the Buhais Rockshelter forms part of one of the most significant archaeological systems in the region.

The publication builds on decades of research led by the Sharjah Archaeology Authority, including discoveries at nearby Jebel Faya that document human activity in the region dating back over 200,000 years.

Together, this growing body of research positions Faya Palaeolandscape as one of the most important and continuous records of early human presence in arid environments—highlighting the UAE’s and Sharjah’s contribution to the global narrative of human evolution, adaptation, and dispersal.

The study also reflected the strength of long-term collaboration between the Sharjah Archaeology Authority and leading international research institutions, combining scientific expertise with a shared commitment to preserving and interpreting humanity’s heritage.