9,000-year-old face sculptures were found in the desert of Jordan. In a major new archaeological find, a Neolithic complex of 9,000-year-old stone carvings has been found in the southeastern desert of Jordan.
Find: Archaeologists from Jordan and France made the discovery, which was made public on Tuesday at a press conference in Jordan.
The researchers say that the stone traps, which are called “desert kites,” are the world’s oldest large-scale human-made sculptures. The gazelle-hunting set-up is thought to be unique.
The anthromorphic carvings are a rare look at Neolithic religious expression.
All photos are copyrighted.
For the last 10 years, SEBAP, led by Mohammad B. Tarawneh and Wael Abu-Azizeh, has been looking into the area. They made this new discovery in October 2021.
The “desert kite” hunting traps have long stone walls that lead prey to an enclosure where they can be kept. They were first found by the team in the Jibal al-Khashabiyeh area in 2013.
This led to the creation of campsites used by hunters who live in the desert and hunt for desert kites and other fun things to do. People lived in semi-subterranean round huts, and pottery and animal bones have been found before.
The announcement was made at a press conference by the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and it was made public.
Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua, through Getty Photos, has a picture of him.
Archaeologists say that this new discovery gives them a better idea of how these people were creative and religious in the past. It is made up of two stone carvings called Ghassan and Abu Ghassan, which have been named after them. The taller of the two, at 112 centimetres, has been carved with an image of a desert kite that includes a human figure. The smaller, at 70 centimetres, has a very detailed human face.
Another find is an altar stone used in rituals, a fire, 150 fossils from the sea, animal figurines, and flint objects that were carefully made.
“That is the only one of its kind that has been found around the world in a Neolithic setting,” says SEBAP in an announcement.
A group of Neolithic hunters who lived in round huts used the desert campsites in the past.
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These rare anthromorphic carvings are some of the oldest art forms in the Middle East, and the team says that the altar and the fire next to it suggest that they were used for sacrifices.
SEBAP says that “the sacral symbolism and ritual performance we have seen are almost certain to have been used to invoke the supernatural forces for successful hunts and a lot of prey to seize.” Symbolism, artistic expression, and religious traditions of these previously unknown Neolithic groups who used “desert kites” to hunt gazelles have been given a whole new look by this study.
The oldest temple in human history is the Göbekli Tepe complex in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is thought to have been built by hunter-gatherers. The 11,500-year-old stone structure was found by German archaeologist Dr. Klaus Schmidt in 1994. It is older than Stonehenge, which was built more than a thousand years ago.
