Abstract
Three small stone axes were collected by the joint Qatari-German South Qatar Survey Project (SQSP) at two places close to the eastern and western coast of Qatar in autumn 2012. Associated with settlement remains, flint artefacts and pieces of ʿUbaid pottery, the implements have been dated to the fifth millennium BCE. Non-destructive μ-XRD2 and μ-XRF analyses could, for the first time, prove the use of hematite as the raw material for the manufacture of these tools in Arabia. The absence of major hematite sources in the region and the special characteristics of hematite — a unique metallic shine of polished pieces and the blood-red colour that appears during the manufacturing process — suggest the highly symbolic character of these objects.
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