Ancient monuments filled with bones may have been used for cult sacrifices, study says

Over 1,600 mysterious stone structures dot Saudi Arabia’s arid landscape. They have managed to puzzle scholars for decades.

Now, after a recent excavation, researchers have discovered the likely purpose of these ancient formations, the oldest of which dates back about 7,000 years.

The structures, which are rectangular in shape, appeared to have fulfilled a religious function, serving as the sites of ritual sacrifices, according to a study published on March 15 in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One.

Both wild and domesticated animals seem to have been sacrificed at the sites, known as mustatils — the Arabic word for rectangles — researchers, who are affiliated with the University of Western Australia, said.

Researchers came to this conclusion after excavating a roughly 460-foot-long mustatil near an ancient Arabian oasis, according to a university news release.

Inside the structure, researchers discovered a collection of horns and skulls.

“It looks like cattle, goats and gazelles were brought to the site, potentially slaughtered there and then presented to what is probably a stone representation of an unknown deity,” Dr. Melissa Kennedy, the lead researcher, said in the release.

The stone deity figure, around which most of the animal remains were clustered, was likely used as a “house of the god,” researchers said.

It’s probable that it “functioned as a mediator between humankind and the divine, acting as a proxy or a manifestation of an unknown Neolithic deity/deities or religious idea, to which the (animal remains) were deposited as votive offerings,” researchers said.

The existence of cattle available for sacrifice indicates the Arabian Peninsula, known to us as a dry region, was abundant with water and vegetation at the time, Kennedy said in the release.

The Neolithic inhabitants of modern day Saudi Arabia likely sacrificed cattle and other animals in an attempt to bring about heavy rainfall, ensuring the region remained wet and livable, researchers added.

Herding communities likely traveled on pilgrimages to visit the stone monuments, providing further evidence of their significance.

“The revisiting and pilgrimage to these structures, like feasting, may have been crucial to maintaining socio-cultural and economic ties between families and wider community groups, brought together by this ritual activity,” researchers said.

This story was originally published May 8, 2023 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Ancient monuments filled with bones may have been used for cult sacrifices, study says."