Oldest Architectural Plans Detail Mysterious Desert Mega Structures

The oldest scale plans of human made mega stru ctures are reported in the open access journal PLOS ONE on May 17, 2023. The engravings, dated to between 8,000 and 9,000 years old, depict nearby desert kites, vast prehistoric structures used to trap animals. The ability to transpose large space onto a small, two dimensional surface represents a m ilestone in intelligent behaviour, and boosts understanding of how kites were conceived and built.
Desert kites were first spoted by aeroplanes in the 1920s. They are sophisticated archaeological structures made up of walls up to 5 km long which converge in an enclosure bordered by pits. However, it was not until the last few years that their function as traps for wild animals was attested and that they were dated. More than 6000 dessert kites have been discovered to date.
Researchers from CNRS, and colleagues, report two engravings that represent plans to scale of kites in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. In Jordan, the Jibal al-Khasabiyeh area has eight kites. A stone with a representation engraved with stone tools measuring 80 cm long and 32 cm wide was found nearby and dated to around 9,000 years ago. Jebel az-Zilliyat in Saudi Arabia has two pairs of visible kites 3.5 km apart. Here a massive to-scale engraving measur ing 382 cm long, 235 cm wide was discovered and dated to around 8,000 years ago.
The plans of large structures were previously attested only by crude representations, in contrast to the precision of the engravings of al-Khashabiyeh and az-Zilliyat. The question of the use of these plans remains, as does their realization, even though apprehending the entire layout without seeing it from the sky is a feat due to the complex topography.
Although human constructions have modified natural spaces for millennia, few plans or maps predate the period of the literate civilizations of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. These examples are the oldest known plans to scale in human history.

Article :
Crassard R., Abu-Azizeh W., Barge O., Brochier J.É., Preusser F., Seba H., Kiouche A.E., Régagnon E., Sánchez Priego J.A., Almalki T., Tarawneh M., 2023. The oldest plans to scale of humanmade mega-structures. PLOS ONE 18(5): e0277927. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277927

Contacts :
Wael Abu-Azizeh, Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo) : w.abuazizeh@ifporient.org
Olivier Barge, CNRS Archéorient UMR-5133, Jalès : olivier.barge@mom.fr
Rémy Crassard, CNRS Archéorient UMR-5133, Lyon : remy.crassard@cnrs.fr
Mohammad B. Tarawneh, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan : mohnaram_tara@yahoo

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Crédits image : Jérôme Poulalier (Instagram @jeromepoulalier @reportages_metiers)