Mysterious Extinct Ancient Camel Carvings Unearthed in Saudi Arabia

Credit: Archaeological Research in Asia (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2023.100483

An international team of archaeologists has discovered life-size images of an extinct camel species carved into rock formations in Saudia Arabia. In their project, reported in the journal Archaeological Research in Asia, the group discovered the carvings on a rock outcropping in the Nefud desert.

Historians have found it difficult to learn much about the Neolithic era in places like Saudia Arabia due to the harsh environment—the heat, sand and rock are not conducive to preserving traces of people who lived there thousands of years ago. Still, some evidence has been found—in a place called the Camel Site, for example, in a northern part of the country, there are large rocks carved with life-size pictures of camels.