Archaeologists have discovered a nearly 9,000-year-old shrine in a Neolithic desert settlement in eastern Jordan, the Associated Press reported.

The ritual complex is in a Neolithic site near structures known as "desert kites", which are believed to have been used for mass hunting.

They consist of two or more long stone walls and are common in the deserts of the Middle East.

 "The site is unique, first and foremost because of the extent to which it has been preserved," said Jordanian archaeologist Wael Abu Aziza, co-director of the project.

"It's 9,000 years old and almost everything is intact."

The sanctuary has two engraved stones with anthropomorphic figures and an image of a "desert kite", as well as an altar, a fireplace, mussel shells and a miniature model of a gazelle trap.

Archaeologists say in a widespread statement that the sanctuary "sheds a whole new light on the symbolism, artistic expression and spiritual culture of the hitherto unknown Neolithic population."

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The sanctuary's proximity to the "kites" suggests that the inhabitants were hunters and that the traps were "at the center of their cultural, economic and even symbolic life in this marginal area," the researchers said.

The team includes archaeologists from al-Hussein bin Talal University in Jordan and the French Institute for the Middle East.

The excavations were carried out in 2021, adds BTA.

Jordan

archeology