Mysterious wheel drawings in the Middle East

A group of researchers using aerial reconnaissance found 'wheel' drawings of the Jordan region stretching from Syria to Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. However, the meaning of these wheels is still a mystery.

Jordan is like a version of the ancient roads or drawings of the Nazca Plateau, in the desert of southern Peru, seen from the air, not from the ground, it seems that many people still do not know.

Thanks to new satellite mapping technology and aerial photography in Jordan, researchers are discovering a lot about them.

Archaeologists call the very much designed stone structures 'wheels' , with a circle and spokes radiating inside. They believed they were from ancient times, at least 2,000 years ago. They are often found on lava areas at an altitude of about 82 feet-230 feet (25 meters-70 meters).

'In Jordan alone, we have much more designed stone structures than in Nazca, with a wider coverage area , ' said David Kennedy, a professor of classical and ancient history at University of Western Australia said.

Kennedy specialized in Roman archeology, but he was intrigued by these stone structures from the time he was a student, seeing photos of the Royal Air Force in the 1920s on Jordan. In 1927, RAF Lt. flight. Percy Maitland published a document about the ruins of Antiquity Magazine, stating that 'the country is above the lava region' and says very different stone structures are the work of the ancient people.

The drawing of the wheel with the chain and the kite trap is still a mystery (Photo: livescience)

Kennedy's new study, which will be published in the upcoming issue of the Archeological Journal, shows that the wheels are part of a series of rock landscapes. They include kite-shaped traps (stone structures used to tunnel and kill animals), pendants (chains of pyramid stones for burial), and mysterious walls and structures around shrink on the frame up to several hundred meters and there is no clear use.

Currently, Kennedy and his colleagues are confused yet to determine the meaning of what these stone drawings are used for.

Wheel drawings in locations have very different features. In Saudi Arabia there are rectangular wheels, others are round with two spokes in the same direction. On the other hand, in Jordan and Syria, there are many spokes and do not seem to be associated with any astronomical phenomenon. Some wheels stand separately while others gather together.

The researchers noted that pyramid-shaped, kite-shaped traps are often accompanied by wheel drawings. While pyramid-shaped rocks are related to burial, kite-shaped traps date back to 9,000 years, suggesting that it was preceded by 2,000-year-old drawings.

Amelia Sparavigna, a professor of physics at Politecnico di Torino in Italy, says she agrees to let the drawings here look like Nazca. Their function may be as mysterious as the Nazca drawings.

'In general, if we consider, stone circles like ancestral worship places, or places for rituals connected to astronomical or crop events, they may have the same function as the pictures of Nazca in South America, ' Sparavign said.

Kennedy also said that the meaning of the wheels is still an unknown solution.