This rosette, of which we only have one half preserved, was made from a large cornus shell, found along the Arabian and Indian coasts of the Indian Ocean. A shell of a certain volume would have been needed to carve this truncated, cone-shaped ornament.

Decorated with carving, incision and inlay techniques, the rosette features a repeated pomegranate flower motif indicating a Persian influence. Some traces of red colour inside the cavities suggest the disc was painted or inlaid using a natural pigment, since erased.

This disc could have been used as a button, brooch or fibula. This type of ornamental object was well known along the eastern coast of the Arabian Gulf during the Iron Age, allowing Qatar to be included in a vast cultural stream of exchange and trade. This particular shell disc was found during the excavations at Deroisa, Al Khor in northeast Qatar, within a context of settlements and workshops.