Archeologists in the Gulf have found evidence that Abu Dhabi has been inhabited for far longer than previously thought.

The Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey ADIAS says pottery fragments found in the Al-Bateen region point to civilisation dating back to the third century AD; it says the coast and the islands of the Emirates were much more populated during the first millennium than it was thought, with the inhabitants probably making a living from fishing and pearl-diving.

The previous survey done by British archaeologists two hundred years ago estimated that Abu Dhabi's first inhabitants had moved there in the mid Eighteenth century.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service