Archaeologists in the United Arab Emirates say they've unearthed a mass burial site thought to be around four-thousand years old.

The team leader, Christian Field, was quoted in a local paper, the Gulf News, as saying that the site in the Ras al-Khaimah region probably dated back to the Umm Al Nar period -- which he described as sophisticated and rich.

The team found coffins, jewellery and some pottery at the burial site, which contained at least three-hundred bodies. Mr Field said the discovery would enable researchers to understand more about the way of life at the time and burial customs.