Medina, Jan. 12 (BNA): Archaeologists from the University of Western Australia (UWA) have determined that the people who lived in the ancient northwest of Arabia built far-reaching “funerary roads”, surrounded by thousands. Among the effects of burial that linked oases and pastures.
The results indicate a high degree of social and economic correlation among the population of the region in the third millennium BC, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The publication of the findings in The Holocene, the journal, caps a year of tremendous progress by the UWA team, working under the auspices of the Royal Commission for Al-Ula (RCU), in shedding light on the lives of the ancient inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula.
The existence of funerary roads indicates the existence of complex social horizons 4,500 years ago across a vast area of the Arabian Peninsula. The findings add to the steady progress of archaeologists working under the auspices of the RCU in understanding the hidden story of the ancient kingdoms and former societies of northern Arabia.
The UWA team’s work is part of a broader effort that includes 13 Archeology and Conservation Project teams from around the world collaborating with Saudi experts in AlUla and the neighboring Khyber Provinces of Saudi Arabia.
Amr Al-Madani, CEO of the Royal Commission for Al-Ula Governorate, said: “The more we know about the ancient inhabitants of northwest Arabia, the more we will be inspired by the way our message reflects their mindset: They lived in harmony with nature, honored their ancestors, and reached out to the wider world. Work done by our archaeological teams in 2021 demonstrates that Saudi Arabia is the home of aeronautics – and we look forward to hosting more research teams in 2022.”
Dr. Rebecca Foot, Director of Archaeological Research and Cultural Heritage at the Royal Commission for Al-Ula Governorate, said that projects that have been doing field work in Al-Ula and Khyber for more than three years, such as the UWA team, have started publishing their results.
“It is fascinating to see how the data analyzes illustrate many aspects of life from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age in northwestern Arabia. These articles are just the beginning of many publications that will advance our knowledge from prehistoric to modern times. Significant implications for the broader region.”
The new article is the fourth publication by the UWA team in less than a year in a peer-reviewed scientific journal on research in AlUla and Khaybar: in August in Arabian magazine.
Archeology and inscriptions, the team dated the necklace-shaped tombs in the Khyber Oasis to the third millennium BC, the first published radiocarbon dating of the tombs.
This was also the first peer-reviewed journal article regarding the Bronze Age at Khyber. Archaeological excavation of the secrets of Khyber is still in its infancy. In April, the team wrote in the journal Antiquity that the archaeological structures known as mustatils are much older than previously thought, dating back to 5200 BC, and appear to have had a ritual function.
In March, the team reported in the Journal of Field Archeology that they had discovered the remains of the oldest known domesticated dog in the Arabian Peninsula.
The UWA team’s latest research, with Dr. Matthew Dalton as lead author, used satellite image analysis, aerial photography, ground survey and excavation to identify and analyze burial routes over an area of at least 160,000 square kilometers in northwestern Arabia.
They recorded more than 17,800 “hanging” tombs in their primary study areas in Al-Ula and Khyber provinces, about 11,000 of which were part of the funeral paths.
Whether in basalt plains or mountain passes, the densest assemblages of funerary structures in these roads are near permanent water sources. The direction of the roads indicates that several were used to travel between the main oases, including Khyber, Al-Ula and Tayma. Other roads fade into the landscape surrounding the oases, indicating that they were used to transport herds of domestic animals to nearby pastures during periods of rain.
“The research conducted by the UWA team and our colleagues working in AlUla and Khyber shows how important the archeology of this region is to our understanding of the Neolithic and Bronze Age throughout the Middle East,” said Dr. Hugh Thomas, Project Director.
“Our findings show that these structures connected several inhabited oases, which are located in a vast area, and that the funerary roads were built about 4,500 years ago. They are especially dense around Khyber, which is one of the densest funerary scenes visible Anywhere in the world . “
The Royal Commission for Al-Ula Governorate has embarked on a 15-year master plan, The Journey Through Time, to regenerate Al-Ula and parts of Khyber as a leading global destination for cultural and natural heritage.
Archaeological research in the provinces of Al-Ula and Al-Khayib by teams from Saudi Arabia and beyond deepens and elucidates the narrative of the journey through time to the region and provides a foundation for the Kingdoms Institute, a world-class center for archaeological and conservation research with a focus on 200,000 years of human history.
This pioneering institution, now operating as a research organization, will open its doors to the public as a permanent physical presence in AlUla by 2030. Its most prominent buildings will be constructed in the Red Sandstone Mountains opposite the archaeological site of Dadan, with a design inspired by the Dadanian civilization that flourished during the heyday of the incense trade in the first millennium B.C.
“There is more in 2022 and the years ahead, as we reveal the depth and breadth of the region’s archaeological heritage, which for decades has been underrepresented, but will finally have the appearance it deserves at the Institute of Kingdoms,” said Jose Ignacio Gallego Rivella, Executive Director of the Archaeology of the Kingdoms. Archeology, Heritage Research and Preservation at RCU.