This culture emerged at the end the second millennium BC and continued for around nine centuries. The very beginning of the Iron Age is still unclear as only a few potsherds representing the early phase of this culture from Tell Abraq and Shimal were found. Villages representing the second phase are so common that their presence leads us to consider the phase sometimes as a whole period. Phase III is as short as Phase I and poorly represented.

Bronze was the main metal used during the whole period, while iron came into use on a small scale during the second phase. As a result of the introduction of the falaj (a form of irrigation system), settlement distribution became much broader during the Iron Age. This system, which was introduced by the indigenous people of the UAE, must have also attracted newcomers to the region some 3000 years ago.