Discovered 4,500-year-old 'funeral avenue' in Saudi Arabia with many strangely shaped tombs

Scientists discovered an ancient road network with a series of round or pendant-shaped tombs surrounding it.

The team at the University of Western Australia conducted extensive investigations with helicopter aerial surveys, ground surveys, excavations, and satellite image studies, last year. As a result, they found "funeral avenues" stretching in the regions of Al-'Ula and Khaybar, northwestern Saudi Arabia, CNN reported on January 16. New research published in the journal Holocene.

"People in these areas have known them for thousands of years. But I think people didn't really realize how large they are until we took satellite images," said researcher Matthew Dalton. Dalton said the funeral boulevards he observed from a helicopter stretched for hundreds, even thousands of kilometers.

A "funeral avenue" surrounded by a series of tombs dating back some 4,500 years in Saudi Arabia.

"You'll find many of the main thoroughfares today running along the same lines as the ancient boulevards because that was often the shortest route between the two places they connected. In fact, in some cases, the tombs were thick. so dense that you can't help but step on the ancient streets, because all around you are tombs," Dalton said.

The tombs are mostly round or pendant in shape. The round tomb consists of a stone mound, surrounded by a wall up to 2m high, while the pendant-shaped grave has a beautiful tail. Using carbon isotope dating, the team identified a group of specimens that dated from 2600 to 2000 BC, although the tombs continued to be reused until about 1,000 years ago.

"These tombs are 4,500 years old and still maintain their original height, which I've never seen before. So I think what makes Saudi Arabia stand out from the rest of the region is the incredible level of preservation. surprised," said researcher Melissa Kennedy.

Kennedy suggested that each grave holds one or a small group of remains. The team of experts observed about 18,000 graves along the funeral boulevards, of which 80 have been sampled or excavated for study.

Close-up of a tomb in the 'boulevard of honor' in Saudi Arabia.

The team believes that avenues were used long before the tomb was built, and it is still unclear exactly why the ancients placed graves along such avenues. "Showing ownership could be one reason to build these graves. There could be another, like you bury your closest and dearest people by the roadside because you'll be passing them often and there's a place to remember them," Dalton explained.

The team plans to continue using carbon isotope dating and return to the archaeological site before analyzing the data. Dalton thinks they will uncover more as the avenues likely stretch to Yemen, especially since similar graves have been found both in Yemen and northern Syria.

"The 3rd millennium was an important period. It was a time when the pyramids were built and many different cultures first interacted with each other on a large scale. Thus, the emergence of of funeral boulevards during this period is really interesting," commented Kennedy.