12,000-year-old rock art discovery rewrites human history in Saudi Arabian desert

Saudi Arabia’s Heritage Commission has announced the discovery and documentation of exceptional engravings dating back 11,400 to 12,800 years in the Al Nafud desert, a project led by the Green Arabia Project.

The findings were published in Nature Communications and significantly mark the earliest scientifically dated phase of rock pictographs in the Kingdom.

The engravings were uncovered south of the Al Nafud Al Kabir desert in the Hail Region following a collaboration under the Green Arabia Project with an international team of researchers from local and global universities and research centres.

The study recorded 176 carvings, which include 130 life-size depictions of animals such as horses, gazelles and an extinct species of bovine.

It has been observed that several images stretch to three meters and are located in difficult-to-access areas, highlighting the remarkable skill of the ancient artists.

The researchers confirmed that the art was created during a damp climate phase between 13,000 and 16,000 years ago that allowed the human population to thrive in areas that are now arid.

The discovery highlights the archaeological significance of the findings that shed light on the development of rock art and the resulting re-evaluation of human history in the Arabian Peninsula and its neighboring areas.