AFP / Mafua - French archaeologists have discovered the oldest place of worship for the dugong, or sea especially dedicated to ...

PARIS (AFP) – French archaeologists have discovered the oldest place of worship dedicated to the dugong, or sea cow, is on an island north of Dubai, two research centers, said Thursday.

The shrine, probably back 3500-3200 BC, was discovered on the island of Ahab, the United Arab Emirates, 50 km (30 miles) north of Dubai time.

The French archaeological mission in the UAE and Umm al-Quwain Museum, said that in ancient official asylum on a lonely island of basic details “on the rituals of prehistoric coastal societies of the Gulf region.”

Ahab was a tuna fisherman ‘is known locally more than 6500 years, with the buildings around a pile of dugong bones in 1990.

The scientific name “Dugong dugon” still in the Gulf region, with adults growing to four meters (12 feet) in length and weigh up to 400 kilograms (880 pounds).

The shrine was originally a slaughterhouse, but the analysis showed that a carefully constructed platform on two levels, with the remains of about 40 dugongs and tools, stones and ornaments.

Archaeologists said the monument was Ahab for rituals to celebrate the great mammals and “no parallel in the Neolithic Age in other parts of the world.

Similar structures have been found off the Australian coast but only a few hundred years.

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