A camel sculpture in Saudi Arabia, long believed to be around 2,000 years old, has undergone new dating analysis, revealing a remarkable civilization hidden within the desert.
An international study conducted by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Humanity, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and King Saud University has uncovered the truth about a civilization that thrived when the dry desert of northern Saudi Arabia was once “a grassland scattered with lakes and trees.”
Strange reliefs marked at the archaeological site “Camel” in Saudi Arabia – (Photo: Saudi Ministry of Culture).
According to the Daily Mail, the clue comes from a human-sized camel relief that has gained some fame, previously thought to date back to the Iron Age around 2,000 years ago. However, the new dating results pushed the timeline back by an astonishing 6,000 years.
The famous camel relief, partially damaged by erosion from sandstorms – (Photo: Saudi Ministry of Culture).
This is a shocking detail as the camel relief and several other rock carvings in the vicinity were created using an incredibly sophisticated technique, indicating that their creators belonged to a civilization that was “ahead of its time” compared to the rest of the world.
Scientists assessed tool marks, weathering traces on the sculptures, fragments, and the density of layers on the rock to gather data about the timeline and climate during the creation of these works.
Other rock art pieces – (Photo: Saudi Ministry of Culture).
This could represent an early civilization of tribes living through the herding of livestock, sheep, and goats, hunting camels and wild horses.
The remarkable way they created these reliefs serves as vivid evidence of the advanced development of civilizations in the region. Previously, scientists also discovered traces of large stone structures built by nomadic tribes in northern Saudi Arabia.
