Mysterious Parallel Dents Discovered in Qatar

Located among the sand dunes in a remote area on the northeastern coast of Qatar, Al Jassasiya is the largest rock art site in the Middle Eastern country.

Some of the drawings resemble sunbathing reptiles. Others resemble the game of hopscotch. Some even experts can't figure out.

A long row of indentations in the rock at Al Jassasiya. (Photo: CNN).

For centuries, coastal residents of Qatar have used limestone platforms as canvases to create rock art – from abstract images to objects they observed in their surroundings, according to CNN.

Archaeologists found around 900 'works' at Al Jassasiya . Many of them were indentations arranged in certain shapes - from arrows and flowers to more complex shapes such as boats.

'Although rock art is not uncommon on the Arabian Peninsula, some of the carvings at Al Jassasiya are unique and cannot be found anywhere else,' said Ferhan Sakal, head of archaeological excavations and site management at the National Museum of Qatar.

'The carvings demonstrate a high level of creativity and observation by the artists who created them,' added Mr Sakal. 'And abstract thinking - as they could not view the boat from above.'

Mysterious drawings

There are a total of 12 rock art archaeological sites in the entire country of Qatar , most of which are located in coastal areas.

Located about an hour away from the capital Doha, Al Jassasiya was discovered in 1957. More than 15 years later, a group of Danish archaeologists came here to meticulously research and systematize each rock painting.

Of all the shapes discovered, more than a third are indentations of different shapes and sizes, forming distinct patterns. One of the most striking is two rows of seven parallel indentations. Some have suggested that this was the 'playing floor' of a game similar to Chinese checkers.

The circular indentations in the rocks are characteristic of Al Jassasiya. (Photo: CNN).

However, this assumption has been questioned by others, who point out that some of the depressions at Al Jassasiya are too small to hold enough stones, while some are located on steep slopes – unsuitable for playing.

Other theories include that it was a place for fortune telling, for sorting and storing pearls, or for calculating time and tides.

'It's hard to say,' said Mr Sakal about the purpose of the rock paintings. 'We have no direct clues about the patterns at Al Jassasiya. In my view, they may have had ritual significance and function.'

This expert also said that it is difficult to determine the exact time of formation of the rock paintings.

'The dating assumptions vary quite a bit, from the Neolithic to the Islamic period ,' he said. 'I personally think that the paintings were not all created at the same time.'

A previous study of nine paintings suggested they were only a few hundred years old. However, scientists said more research was needed to determine exactly.

A window into the past

Although the exact meaning and date of the paintings cannot be determined, there is a general consensus among scientists that the most remarkable paintings at Al Jassasiya are the boat paintings. They provide information about the type of boats used by ancient people for fishing and pearl diving.

When viewed from above, most of the rock boat paintings appear fish-shaped with pointed tails and rows of oars, equipped with a sharp metal object. Many details are also shown - such as the attachment points for the mast and the oarsmen's seats.

The image of a boat at Al Jassasiya resembles a fish. (Photo: Qatar Museums).

In some paintings, anchors are also shown. There are two types of anchors: the traditional Arab type (made of stone, triangular in shape and with two holes) and the European type (made of metal, which began to be used in the region about 700 years ago).

Images of many boats have also been identified as pearling boats. Experts point out that the proportion of boat paintings at Al Jassasiya is much higher than at other coastal sites in Qatar.

'Boats played an important role in ancient beliefs, as a way of travelling from this world to the next,' write Frances Gillespie and Faisal Abdulla Al-Naimi in their book Hidden in the Sand: Uncovering Qatar's Past.

'The Babylonians and the ancient Egyptians both believed that the dead traveled to the afterlife by boat. Greek mythology mentions the ferryman Charon who ferried the souls of the dead across the river Styx to the underworld ,' the authors write. 'Boat carvings reflect prehistoric folk memories.'