431 Stone Circle Sites Unveil Insights About Neolithic Saudi Arabia

New findings have been uncovered about an occupation site in north-west Saudi Arabia, dating back to the Neolithic period sometime between 6,000 BCE and 5,000 BCE. An international team, sponsored by the Royal Commission for Al-Ula (RCU) and led by University of Sydney archaeologist Jane McMahon, published their research in the peer-reviewed Levant Journal.

The site in question is a unique dwelling known as the Standing Stone Circles, structured from double rows of upright stone slabs which form circles between four and eight metres in diameter. It has been proposed that they might have once supported roofs made from animal skins.

The team examined 431 of these stone circles in Al-Ula’s Harrat Uwayrid, with 52 surveyed, and 11 excavated comprehensively. The findings also included various animal remains, arrowheads linked to Jordan, and shells suggesting coastal connections and a larger population than previously thought.