(ORDO NEWS) — Archaeologists have discovered many giant Neolithic kites. An article about this was published in The Holocene.
“Desert kites” are huge structures of low walls located on the plains. In general, when viewed from above, they take the form of a corridor leading to a wide part (“head”).
They are mainly found in the Middle East, in Syria, Israel and Jordan.
Michael Fradley of Oxford University discovered many such structures in the Nefud Desert (southern Iraq and northern Saudi Arabia) using satellite imagery analysis.
They concluded that the “serpents” were carefully and thoughtfully planned, unlike many other structures of the Stone Age.
The “heads” of some “serpents” were more than a hundred meters wide, and the guiding corridors along which gazelles and other game could follow to the “heads” stretch in almost a straight line for more than four kilometers, often over very varied terrain.
In total, about 350 “kites” were found in the desert from the pictures. At the same time, the builders of the walls themselves lived in houses made of biodegradable materials, and therefore their traces are much harder to detect.
These finds were not specifically dated, but previous similar structures were erected 9000-4000 years ago. At that time, the now desert region was savannah.
Experts believe that in addition to hunting for food, the structures could serve other purposes.
For example, with their help they could catch animals for the sake of domestication, and in some cases the walls served as a corral for cattle.
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