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Life-size camel sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than Stonehenge, pyramids

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Life-size camel sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than Stonehenge, pyramids

#81

Post by delecti »

rbalicki wrote: post #64
duxup wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall a note left on a piece of Greek pottery that said something like " made this and I bet can't do any better." Wonderful slice of some potter rivalry from long long ago ;)

There's a lot of bawdy graffiti that was discovered in Pompeii: https://kashgar.com.au/blogs/history/the-bawdy-graffiti-of-p...

This is exactly the example I was trying to remember. I love things like this because it helps take the past off a pedestal. We've been the same raunchy species from the beginning.

Re: Life-size camel sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than Stonehenge, pyramids

#82

Post by behnamoh »

afterburner wrote: post #74
illwrks wrote: post #22

I was about to say they have a powerful imagination to see camels in that eroded rock... however after a quick search, there are better photos online: https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/MAGAZINE-2-000-year-old-...

That article only mentions 2000 year old sculptures, not 8000, so maybe that one just hasn't been as weather worn yet.

Or maybe previous dating was not correct.

Re: Life-size camel sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than Stonehenge, pyramids

#84

Post by betwixthewires »

shusaku wrote: post #41

> the time of the statues’ creation, around the sixth millennium B.C.E., the Arabian Peninsula was filled with grassland and much wetter than it is now. We’re camels significantly different during this time? How much of their current features are things evolved to deal with the desert climate?

They were very much like they are now, not different physiology in any recognizable way. But they're very adaptable creatures. They're not truly native to that region, they are actually from North America, specifically the northern latitudes. That should give you an idea of how adaptable they are.

Re: Life-size camel sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than Stonehenge, pyramids

#86

Post by mcguire »

afterburner wrote: post #74
illwrks wrote: post #22

I was about to say they have a powerful imagination to see camels in that eroded rock... however after a quick search, there are better photos online: https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/MAGAZINE-2-000-year-old-...

That article only mentions 2000 year old sculptures, not 8000, so maybe that one just hasn't been as weather worn yet.

According to the Smithsonian article, that was the original dating for the camels. The continuing work pushed the date back to 7000-8000.

Re: Life-size camel sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than Stonehenge, pyramids

#87

Post by kevinkeller »

ducktective wrote: post #76
AlotOfReading wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would have still been hot and relatively arid, just less so. These camels are native to all of North Africa, Arabia, and the middle east. There's a lot of different environments in that range.

The theory parent is mentioning, doesn't just talk about "less hot and less arid" but a lush green and very favorable for agriculture. If these people went as far as to carve camels in stones, that would mean these animals were prevalent in their areas and way of life which is in direct conflict with assuming their land were anything but hot and arid. I have heard of the theory about different climate of Egypt and Ir…

Speaking of different climate in North Africa/Middle East: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_humid_period

As recently as 5,000 years ago, it was a much wetter place.

Re: Life-size camel sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than Stonehenge, pyramids

#88

Post by [deleted] »

rob74 wrote: post #63
donohoe wrote: post #32

And older than Ireland's Newgrange - which was built around 3200 BC and is also older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange

In all fairness, building something like Newgrange or Stonehenge (never mind the Egyptian pyramids) requires orders of magnitude more effort than carving some camels out of soft sandstone...

[deleted]

Re: Life-size camel sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than Stonehenge, pyramids

#89

Post by 8note »

ducktective wrote: post #76
AlotOfReading wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would have still been hot and relatively arid, just less so. These camels are native to all of North Africa, Arabia, and the middle east. There's a lot of different environments in that range.

The theory parent is mentioning, doesn't just talk about "less hot and less arid" but a lush green and very favorable for agriculture. If these people went as far as to carve camels in stones, that would mean these animals were prevalent in their areas and way of life which is in direct conflict with assuming their land were anything but hot and arid. I have heard of the theory about different climate of Egypt and Ir…

Why not both? More lush by the rivers, and still arid away from water.

But they could still only have camels as their pack animals, since that's all they'd domesticated. It's not like camels will die in non-arid locations

Re: Life-size camel sculptures in Saudi Arabia are older than Stonehenge, pyramids

#90

Post by AlotOfReading »

ducktective wrote: post #76
AlotOfReading wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would have still been hot and relatively arid, just less so. These camels are native to all of North Africa, Arabia, and the middle east. There's a lot of different environments in that range.

The theory parent is mentioning, doesn't just talk about "less hot and less arid" but a lush green and very favorable for agriculture. If these people went as far as to carve camels in stones, that would mean these animals were prevalent in their areas and way of life which is in direct conflict with assuming their land were anything but hot and arid. I have heard of the theory about different climate of Egypt and Ir…

Semi-arid is perfectly compatible with agriculture. In fact, many of the earliest sites for agriculture around the world are found in arid or semi-arid environments. I'd suggest reading Dennell's paper on the deserts of Asia.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.12.002

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