Editing History of Qatar (section)

==Prehistory==
{{See also|Archaeology of Qatar}}

===Paleolithic Age===
In 1961, a Danish archaeological expedition carried out on the peninsula uncovered approximately 30,000 stone implements from 122 Paleolithic sites. Most of the sites were situated along the coastline, and were divided into four separate cultural groups based on flint typology. [[Microlith|Macrolithic]] tools such as [[Scraper (archaeology)|scraper]]s, [[arrowheads]] and [[hand axe]]s dating to the [[Lower Paleolithic|Lower]] and [[Middle Paleolithic]] periods were among the discoveries.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Book reviews|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=72|issue=3|date=28 October 2009|doi=10.1525/aa.1970.72.3.02a00790|pages=700–701|last1=Smith|first1=Philip E. L.|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The [[Holocene glacial retreat#Persian Gulf (around 8,000 years ago)|flooding of the Persian Gulf]] roughly 8,000 years ago,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/10340-lost-civilization-existed-beneath-persian-gulf.html|title=Lost Civilization May Have Existed Beneath the Persian Gulf|publisher=Live Science|author=Jeanna Bryner|date=9 December 2010|access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref> resulted in the displacement of Persian Gulf inhabitants, the formation of the Qatari Peninsula and the occupation of Qatar to capitalize on its coastal resources.<ref name="nayeem1">{{cite book|last=Abdul Nayeem|first=Muhammad|title=Qatar Prehistory and Protohistory from the Most Ancient Times (Ca. 1,000,000 to End of B.C. Era)|publisher=Hyderabad Publishers|year=1998|page=14|isbn=9788185492049}}</ref> From this time onward, Qatar was regularly used as [[rangeland]] for nomadic tribes from the [[Najd]] and [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|al-Hasa]] regions in [[Saudi Arabia]], and a number of seasonal encampments were constructed around sources of water.<ref name="magee"/>

===Neolithic period (8000–3800 BC)===
[[Al Da'asa]], a settlement located on the western coast of Qatar, is the most extensive [[Ubaid period|Ubaid]] site in the country. It was excavated by the 1961 Danish team.<ref name="embassy">{{cite web|url=http://www.qatarembassy.or.th/download/Complete_History_of_Qatar.pdf|title=History of Qatar|website=www.qatarembassy.or.th|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Qatar. London: Stacey International, 2000|access-date=9 January 2015}}</ref> The site is theorized to have accommodated a small seasonal encampment, possibly a lodging for a hunting-fishing-gathering group who made recurrent visits.<ref name="rice">{{cite book|last=Rice|first=Michael|title=Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0maIAgAAQBAJ|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415032681|pages=206, 232–233|year=1994}}</ref> This is evidenced by the discovery of nearly sixty fire pits at the site, which may have been used to cure and dry fish, in addition to flint tools such as scrapers, cutters, blades and arrowheads. Furthermore, many painted Ubaid potsherds and a [[carnelian]] bead were found in the fire pits, suggesting overseas connections.<ref name="masry">{{cite book|last=Masry|first=Abdullah|title=Prehistory in Northeastern Arabia: The Problem of Interregional Interaction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0VCPBAAAQBAJ|publisher=Routledge|year=1997|page=94|isbn=978-0710305367}}</ref>

In an excavation done in [[Al Khor]] in 1977–78, several Ubaid-period graves were uncovered in what is considered the earliest recorded burial site in the country.<ref name="vine1">{{Harvnb|Casey|Vine|1991|p=12}}</ref> One grave contained the cremated remains of a young woman with no grave goods. Eight other graves contained grave goods, including beads made of shell, carnelian, and obsidian. The obsidian most likely originated from [[Najran]] in southwest Arabia.<ref name="embassy"/><ref name="masry"/>

===Bronze Age (2100–1155 BC)===
{{See also|Dilmun|Kassites}}
[[File:AlKhorIslandScenery.jpg|thumb|[[Al Khor Island]], the location of the purple dye industry]]
The Qatari Peninsula was close enough to the [[Dilmun]] civilization in [[Bahrain]] to have felt its influence.<ref name=cs>Toth, Anthony. "Qatar: Historical Background." [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/qatoc.html ''A Country Study: Qatar''] ([[Helen Chapin Metz]], editor). [[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]] (January 19693). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the [[public domain]]''.</ref> Barbar pottery was excavated in two sites by the Qatar Archaeology Project, suggesting Qatar's involvement in Dilmun's trade network.<ref name="embassy"/> When the people of Dilmun began engaging in maritime activities around 2100 to 1700 BC, the inhabitants of Qatar started diving for pearls in the Persian Gulf.<ref name="mccoy">{{cite book|last=McCoy|first=Lisa|title=Qatar (Major Muslim Nations)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UMwdBQAAQBAJ|publisher=Mason Crest|year=2014|isbn=9781633559851}}</ref> The Qataris were engaged in the trading of pearls and [[date palm]]s during this era.<ref>Mohamed Althani, p. 15</ref>

It has been argued that the remains of Dilmun settlements found in Qatar do not represent major evidence of long-term human habitation.<ref name="rice"/> Qatar remained largely uninhabited during this period due to regular migration by nomadic Arab tribes searching for untapped food and water sources.<ref>{{cite book|title=Peoples of Western Asia|url=https://archive.org/details/peoplesofwestern0005unse|url-access=registration|publisher=Marshall Cavendish Corporation|year=2007|isbn=978-0761476825|page=351}}</ref> The settlements dating to the Dilmun period, particularly in [[Al Khor Island]], may have been established to expedite trade journeys between Bahrain to the closest significant settlement in the Persian Gulf, [[Tell Abraq]]. Another scenario entails that the encampments were created by visiting fishermen or [[Pearl hunting|pearl fishers]] from Dilmun. It has also been suggested that the presence of pottery is indicative of trade between the inhabitants of Qatar and the Dilmun civilization, though this is considered unlikely due to the scarce population of the peninsula during this period.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Carter|first1=Robert Jr.|last2=Killick|first2=Robert|title=Al-Khor Island: Investigating Coastal Exploitation in Bronze Age Qatar|url=http://tekhelet.com/pdf/Carter-Al-Khor-2010.pdf|publisher=Moonrise Press Ltd|year=2014|page=43|isbn=978-1910169001}}</ref>

[[Kassites|Kassite]] [[Babylonia]]n-influenced materials dating back to the second millennium BC, which were found in [[Al Khor Island]], are evidence of trade relations between the inhabitants of Qatar and the Kassite.<ref name="magee">{{cite book|last=Magee|first=Peter|title=The Archaeology of Prehistoric Arabia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FqlkAwAAQBAJ|publisher=Cambridge Press|year=2014|pages=50, 178|isbn=9780521862318}}</ref> Among the findings were 3,000,000 crushed snail shells and Kassite potsherds.<ref name="embassy"/> It has been asserted that Qatar was the site of the earliest known production of shellfish dye owing to a purple dye industry operated by the Kassite which existed on the island.<ref name="haya"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Sterman|first=Baruch|title=Rarest Blue: The Remarkable Story Of An Ancient Color Lost To History And Rediscovered|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGdBBAAAQBAJ|publisher=Lyons Press|year=2012|pages=21–22|isbn=978-0762782222}}</ref> The dye was obtained from the [[Hexaplex trunculus|murex]] snail and was known as "[[Tyrian purple]]".<ref name="embassy"/> Dye production may have been supervised by the Kassite administration in Bahrain to export the dye to [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>Carter, Killick (2014). p. 45.</ref>