A 9,000-year-old ritualistic complex has been found near a structure that is thought to be the earliest large human-built structure in the world.
The Stone Age shrine site features carved stone figures, an altar and a miniature model of a large-scale hunting trap.
The giant game traps are made of long walls that converge to corral running gazelles into enclosures or holes for slaughter.
Similar structures of two or more stone walls have been found in deserts across Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Kazakhstan.
The shrine complex was ancient. The Jordanian Antiquities Authority.
The South Eastern Badia Archaeological Project discovered the Neolithic-era ritual site inside a larger campsite last October.
According to a statement by the SEBA Project, the earliest large-scale human built structures in the world are in the vicinity of the desert kites.
It hailed the discovery of a site that is believed to date to about 7000 BCE.
There were two steles with different features, the taller one 1.12 meters high, and other artifacts.
The shrine complex was ancient. The Jordanian Antiquities Authority.
The research project aims to study the first pastoral nomadic societies and the evolution of specialized subsistence strategies.
The project said that the desert kites suggest extremely sophisticated mass hunting strategies.
It said the symbolism was most likely meant to invoke the supranatural forces for successful hunts.
The campsites with circular dwellings and large numbers of gazelle bones have been found by researchers.
The shrine complex was ancient. The Jordanian Antiquities Authority.
The French Institute of the Near East collaborated with Jordan's Al Hussein Bin Talal University.
French ambassador Veronique Vouland-Aneini said that it provides us with a priceless testimony of the historical life in the Middle East.
Agence France-Presse
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