UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: A wealth of biological material from two islands in the Persian Gulf demonstrates how well Neolithic communities exploited marine resources. For example, thousands of fish bones from the islands of Marawah and Dalma indicate that people living there 7,500 years ago used nets and traps made from date palms to catch a wide variety of fish. On Marawah, archaeologists also discovered the world’s oldest known pearl, a rare item that would have been used as either jewelry or currency.