A team of Jordanian and French archeologists said on Tuesday that is had located a roughly 9,000-year-old shrine at a remote Neolithic site. Found in the country of Jordan, the ritual complex was near large structures known as “desert kites,” The structures are also considered mass traps that are believed to have been used to corral wild gazelles for slaughter.
These traps consist of two or more long stone walls converging toward an enclosure which are found scattered across the deserts of the Middle East. Jordanian archeologist Wael Abu-Azziza, co-director of the project said “the site is unique, first because of its preservation state,… It’s 9,000 years old and everything was almost intact.”
Within the shrine, there were two carved standing stones bearing anthropomorphic figures. One was accompanied by a representation of the “desert kite,” as well as an altar, hearth, marine shells, and miniature model of the gazelle trap. The researchers explained that the shrine “sheds an entirely new light on the symbolism, artistic expression as well as the spiritual culture of these hitherto unknown Neolithic populations.”
For more information about the source click HERE