He discovered a “ritual complex” at a Neolithic site near large structures known as “desert kites”, or collective traps believed to have been used to hunt wild deer for slaughter.
These traps consist of two or more long stone walls, converging towards a fence and spreading across the deserts of the Middle East, according to the Associated Press.
The project’s co-director, Jordanian archaeologist Wael Abu Azizah, said that “the site is unique, first because of its state of preservation… It is 9,000 years old and everything was almost fine.”
Inside the mausoleum there were two carved standing stones bearing anthropomorphic figures, one of which bore an embodiment of a “desert kite”, in addition to an altar, a hearth, seashells, and a miniature deer trap.
In a statement, the researchers said the archaeological discovery “sheds a whole new light on the symbolism and artistic expression as well as the spiritual culture of these hitherto unknown Neolithic populations.”
The statement further stated that the proximity of the site to the traps indicated that the inhabitants were specialized hunters, and that the traps were “the center of their cultural, economic and even symbolic life in this marginal area.”
It is noteworthy that the excavation of the site began during the excavation period in 2021, and the team included archaeologists from Al-Hussein Bin Talal University in Jordan and the French Institute for the Near East.