9,000-year-old building plans discovered: ‘Oldest in human history’

PARIS – Archaeologists have discovered the first known architectural plans to scale, dating back thousands of years. The engravings, which are estimated to be between 8,000 and 9,000 years old, depict desert stele – large structures built to trap animals.

According to the researchers, the ability to represent expansive space on a small, two-dimensional surface marks a significant point in the evolution of intelligent behavior, improving our understanding of how these kites were designed and built.

“Although human constructions have been altering the natural landscapes for millennia, few plans or maps predate the literate civilizations of Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. These findings represent the oldest scale plans known in human history,” says Dr. Rémy Crassard of the Center National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, in a media release.

The international team, which included scientists from France, Israel, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, noted that desert kites were first discovered by aerial reconnaissance in the 1920s.

“The engravings illustrate desert stelae: sophisticated archaeological structures consisting of walls up to five kilometers long that converge into an enclosure to trap animals. These structures, bordered by pits, can only be fully seen from the air The need for this type of spatial representation was unprecedented”, explains Dr. Crassard.

Researchers discovered two engravings depicting kites in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. In the Jibal al-Khasabiyeh area of ​​Jordan, where there are eight stelae, a carved stone representation was found nearby and has been dated to about 7,000 years ago. In the Zebel az-Zilliyat area of ​​Saudi Arabia, where two pairs of kites are visible 3.5 kilometers apart, a scaled engraving was discovered and dated to about 8,000 years ago.

“Such plans would have been essential for the builderslike the complete design of the structures cannot be understood without an aerial view,” says Dr. Crassard. “Previous tests of plans for large structures were rough representations, but these designs are extremely accurate.”

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.

South West News Service writer Stephen Beech contributed to this report.