Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia have discovered 12,000-year-old life-sized animal etchings — “monumental rock art” that dates to over 2,000 years before humans were thought to be in the region, a new study finds.
These highly realistic depictions of camels and other creatures were likely culturally meaningful for these hunter-gatherers, and probably served as waymarkers to help people locate oases that popped up when the area became wetter starting from 16,000 to 13,000 years ago, the researchers wrote in the study, which was published Tuesday (Sept. 30) in the journal Nature Communications.
At the crossroad between Africa and Asia, Arabia was a key migration route for early humans, with research published April 9 in the journal Nature confirming the region underwent various “humid episodes” that enabled these dispersals. Yet there previously was no evidence of human occupation in northern Arabia between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (around 25,000 to 20,000 years ago), the coldest period during the last ice age, and around 10,000 years ago. Researchers assumed the area had been abandoned because it was too arid to survive.
Now, following a tip from local amateur archaeologists about a giant piece of rock art, researchers have explored three previously unknown sites in the southern Nafud Desert in northern Saudi Arabia that upend that assumption.
When they arrived, one teammate wandered off to explore the area and discovered “the first big excitement,” a rock formation with ancient art surrounding a pool of water, Guagnin said. And on the other side of the mountain were the remains of an ancient lake.
The team subsequently found 62 rock art panels with 176 engravings across the three sites, with some etched into huge cliff faces 128 feet (39 meters) up. The engravings were predominantly of life-sized animals, mainly camels.
Importantly, these depictions were commonly of male camels with distinctive bulges…
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