{"id":12388,"date":"2022-12-15T13:17:30","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T20:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/BigJimIndustries.com\/wordpress\/?p=12388"},"modified":"2023-01-07T13:19:07","modified_gmt":"2023-01-07T20:19:07","slug":"desert-kites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/2022\/12\/15\/desert-kites\/","title":{"rendered":"Desert Kites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

from artnet<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists Have Cracked the Origins of \u2018Desert Kites,\u2019 Massive Prehistoric Patterns That Were Carved into the Middle Eastern Desert<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Three studies confirm the long-held hypothesis that the structures were hunting traps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Vittoria Benzine<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Aerial view of a kite in the Khaybar area of north-west Saudi Arabia. These ancient hunting structures were named \u2018kites\u2019 by aviators in the 1920s because, observed from above, their form is reminiscent of old-fashioned child\u2019s kites with streamers. (Diaa Albukaai and K\u00e9vin Guadagnini, Khaybar Longue Dur\u00e9e Archaeological Project, RCU-Afalula-CNRS)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the 1920s, British Royal Air Force pilots over the Middle East recorded the first sightings of what they dubbed desert kites\u2014massive patterns carved into rocky land, often resembling the famous flying toy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archaeologists have since debated the purpose of these enigmas, which appear across geographies and eras, dating back to the Neolithic Period (10,000\u20132,200 B.C.E.) in Jordan, the early Bronze Age (3,300\u20132,100 B.C.E.) in Israel\u2019s Negev Desert, and the Middle Bronze Age (2,100\u20131,550 B.C.E.) in Armenia. Some thought they were cultural cornerstones. Still more posited they were pens for domesticating animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three recent peer-reviewed papers confirm popular hypotheses that the desert kites actually served as mass hunting traps, allowing early desert dwellers to kill entire herds of game at once. While they were active, the kites funneled gazelle and ibex down tapered, wall-lined paths which ended in massive pits or sudden cliffs where creatures were trapped and killed. The kites\u2019s particular placement, length, and shape generally demonstrate a sophisticated knowledge of landscapes and animal behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[ click to continue reading at artnet<\/a> ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from artnet Scientists Have Cracked the Origins of \u2018Desert Kites,\u2019 Massive Prehistoric Patterns That Were Carved into the Middle Eastern Desert Three studies confirm the long-held hypothesis that the structures were hunting traps. by Vittoria Benzine In the 1920s, British Royal Air Force pilots over the Middle East recorded the first sightings of what they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-art"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}