2022 Study Finds Deep Pits in 6,000 Ancient Desert Kites Used to Trap Animals

1 articles · Updated · Boing Boing · Jul 23

Research published in 2022 found several-meter-deep pits at the ends of ancient desert kites, strengthening evidence that the vast stone layouts were built to trap animals.
Low dry-stone walls funneled herds along breaks in the slope into enclosures where screened pits stayed hidden until running gazelles were too close to turn.
More than 6,000 kites have been identified from Uzbekistan to Libya, with parts of Syria holding roughly one structure every 2 square kilometers.
The oldest dated kites reach back to the early Holocene, making them among the most complex structures of their time, though archaeologists still debate whether some managed livestock instead of hunting wild game.

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Were ancient desert 'kites' clever hunting traps, or could they, like Africa's stone tombs, have been sacred sites for livestock?

As satellites map thousands of ancient desert megastructures, what other lost worlds are still hidden just beneath the sand?

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