Abstract

Contrary to the preceding and succeeding periods, little is known about life style and subsistence patterns during the 2nd millennium ВС in the Arabian Gulf. By means of trace element analysis, human bone from the cemetery at Shimal, Ras al-Khaimah, U.A.E. was analysed. The specimens were taken from graves dating from early, late, and an intermediate period of the 2nd millennium. The investigations indicate a shift of subsistence during the 2nd millennium. While the population which inhabited the Shimal area during the first centuries was most probably of pastoral nomads with a mixed diet of plant and marine food, people changed to a settled form of existence by the end of the millennium with a heavy reliance on the marine food resources.