Lines and stars were found to be engraved on rocks situated on the Arabian Peninsula. A new study shows that these carvings, which date to roughly 8,000 years ago, could be scale-plan blueprints pointing to hunting traps that were nearby and that they could just be the world's oldest known blueprints to date.
Ancient 'Desert Kite' Traps
According to Live Science, these structures, called desert kites, were first found roughly a century ago. Their discovery came with the takeoff of aerial photography alongside soaring planes.
Desert kites are massive structures. In fact, their typical size is roughly equivalent to the average of two football fields' square footage, as noted by Live Science. Because of this, the entirety of the structure can hardly be observed from the ground. However, technological advancements, such as high-resolution satellite shots of Google Earth, have facilitated further desert kite study in the recent decade.
These are huge land areas that have stone walls as borders. At times, there are pits situated close to its edges that are scattered within it.
They are usually found across Central Asia and the Middle East. Such structures have been thought to work as animal traps or pens. Hunters would use a narrow and long passage to herd animals into the desert kite. Animals would then be stopped from escaping the pits or walls, which, in turn, makes it easier for hunters to kill the animals.
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Blueprints for Desert Kites
Now, archaeologists have been able to uncover blueprint-like designs carved over rocks in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. These findings show how the Neolithics could have carefully planned the development of these desert kites. This was detailed further in the PLOS One journal.
To compare the diagrams with the dimensions and shape of known desert kites, the authors conducted some mathematical calculations. The Scientific American notes that one engraving revealed a kite engraved into a rock that had a length of roughly 80 centimeters. This serves as a good prehistoric canvas for these prehistoric individuals.
Live Science adds that the blueprint included carved lines that drove animal prey into an enclosure that had a star shape. It also had eight depressions, which had the shape of a cup, that represented the pits inside.
The stone was observed to be carved with varying techniques. Archaeologist Rémy Crassard from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) notes that it is unclear if one person or many individuals worked on the carving.
The other example was from Wadi az-Zilliyat, Saudi Arabia. It depicted two kites that were engraved onto a huge boulder of sandstone that had a height of over 12 feet. Though it was constructed differently from the one in Jordan, this blueprint also had a star-shaped enclosure, driving lines, and six cup marks at the point ends.
Though desert kites are incredibly difficult to date, the team was able to compare these ones with neighboring kites linked to organic remains and sediments. Doing so enabled them to estimate that both sites date to roughly 8,000 years ago.
Crassard and co-researchers from the Globalkites Project then compared the diagrams with several plans of known desert kites. They used graph modeling to do so. Mathematical computations showed significant scores in similarity. The Jordan diagram was found to be similar to a desert kite situated roughly 1.4 miles away, while the blueprint in Saudi Arabia was similar to a desert kite located 10 miles away and had a strikingly similar appearance to a different desert kite situated 0.87 miles away.
The authors note that the engravings are quite accurate and realistic and that they could be the oldest known architectural scale blueprints in human history.
The researchers theorized that the hunters preparing for hunting could have come together and discussed plans regarding a kite that was already built. There is also a possibility that the diagram was used to make the kite. Regardless of the case, the evident link between the diagram and the physical structure demonstrated vital developments in symbolic representation and abstract thinking among these prehistoric humans.
As part of the Globalkites Project, Crassard and the team are furthering their work on such desert kites.
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