Back in October , it wasrevealedthat around 400 clustered Isidor Feinstein Stone structures , all built atop an ancient volcanic plateau in Saudi Arabia , had been spotted via satellite imagery . It ’s not clear who built them or why , but they appeared to be gates – the “ Old man - made structure in the area ” , according to the University of Western Australia ’s ancient history professor , David Kennedy .
Now , using some additionalaerial picture taking , Kennedy has offered his thoughts on the enigmatic characteristic . He play up that they are far more numerous and extensive than many have recognize , with C of thousands of them pepper across the intact peninsula – but still , no one is sure what they are .
save toLive Science , he refers to the tales of the Bedouin , who first came across such structures back in the 1920s . They bear on to them rather poetically as the “ Works of the Old Men ” , and Kennedy has in fact been take these structures , and those like it , for 20 years now .
Saudi Arabia has been fairly tolerant to aerial surveys for some metre now , but the outside metier coverage Kennedy ’s enquiry has generated seemed to exchange their judgement , at least temporarily . vaporize over some of the most prominent stone structure above the Harrat Khaybar volcanic plain , he snapped some new shots and captured them in incredible detail .
Within Harrat Khaybar , there are at least 400 of the wall - like “ gate ” , countless “ wheels ” , 917 “ kites ” – object used to aid cakehole fauna – and plenty of “ keyhole pendants ” , which look exactly what they fathom like , and come along to be designed for funereal purposes .
Importantly , they are n’t just found in this one location . They ’re found in southern Syria , across the Jordanian Panhandle , and all down the western seaside of the Arabian Peninsula . The reason those in Saudi Arabia have get so much attention as of later is because of the absolute form of fresh structure found there .
Although the wider mysteries rest , the chance to see these structures in such breathless detail has assist to give the door on future work , in thisharratand mass of others nearby .
Although the archeology of the area is fairly sure-enough and cryptic , the volcanic history of Harrat Khaybar itself is n’t that ancient , with the last known diachronic volcanic eruption occur between 600 and 700 CE . Before then , a contrast of volcanic feature were formed on a magnetic north - Dixieland axis over the class of around 5 million year , according toNASA .
The kinds of volcanic edifice present here imply that a eccentric of volcanism known as phreatomagmatism took place there for some meter - where water and magma explosively interact . This means that the area was one far more wet and inhabitable than it is now , which partly excuse the front of these oracular complex body part .
The exact who , when and why elude academician , though , which is why this fresh enquiry is so valuable .
Working with the Saudi sanction , the Riyadh - basedDesert Teamgroup of travelers and academician , and regional archaeologist , Kennedy hop-skip an upcoming , all-embracing undertaking will last begin to answer some of these burning questions .
by the way , the 6,000 aerial photo venture was , according to Kennedy , “ probably the first taxonomical aerial reconnaissance mission for archeology ever carry out in Saudi Arabia , ” something that “ was only potential because of the publication of the Live Science feature . ”
If anyone involve you why skill communicating is crucial , look no further than this arresting collaborationism between research worker and journalists .
