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The discovery of the civilization, named al-Maqar after the site's location, will challenge the theory that the domestication of animals took place 5,500 years ago in Central Asia, said Ali al-Ghabban
Mr Ghabban said carbon-14 tests on the artefacts, as well as DNA tests on human remains also found there, dated them to about 7,000 BC
"The Maqar Civilization is a very advanced civilization of the Neolithic period. This site shows us clearly, the roots of the domestication of horses 9,000 years ago."
The site also includes remains of mummified skeletons, arrowheads, scrapers, grain grinders, tools for spinning and weaving, and other tools that are evidence of a civilization that is skilled in handicrafts
At its peak, the floodplain now below the Gulf would have been about the size of Great Britain, and then shrank as water began to flood the area. Then, about 8,000 years ago, the land would have been swallowed up by the Indian Ocean
Watery refuge
The Gulf Oasis would have been a shallow inland basin exposed from about 75,000 years ago until 8,000 years ago, forming the southern tip of the Fertile Crescent, according to historical sea-level records.
"Perhaps it is no coincidence that the founding of such remarkably well developed communities along the shoreline corresponds with the flooding of the Persian Gulf basin around 8,000 years ago," Rose said. "These new colonists may have come from the heart of the Gulf, displaced by rising water levels that plunged the once fertile landscape beneath the waters of the Indian Ocean."
Archeological evidence that an ancient society was domesticating animals including horses 9,000 years ago, 4,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Named the Al-Maqar civilization, around 80 artifacts have been collected from the site, including mummified skeletons, spinning and weaving tools, and statues of animals such as ostriches, falcons, and a one-meter-tall bust of a horse. A horse burial has also been discovered.
Ali al-Ghabban, vice president of Antiquities and Museums at the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities (SCTA), said these findings challenge the theory that animal domestication took place 5,500 years ago, which is based on previous excavations in Central Asia.
"This discovery will change our knowledge concerning the domestication of horses and the evolution of culture in the late Neolithic period,” he said.
“The Maqar Civilization is a very advanced civilization of the Neolithic period," he added. "This site shows us clearly, the roots of the domestication of horses 9,000 years ago.”
Ghabban said DNA tests and carbon dating had confirmed the age of the excavated artifacts.
Originally posted by LeTan
reply to post by Atlantican
I couldn't agree more. Actually, I was watching a show on the history channel about humans not being around anymore and how our structures and items would decay in 1000 to 3000 years. For example, the statue of liberty, her base is stone but her skin and bones are iron and copper. The copper and iron would rust and decay, while the base stood for thousands of years after man had gone.
Makes you wonder if the structures we find today also had metal counterparts at one point in time. What a fascinating article though, a new civilization that old is world breaking. I'd like to see what they find if they dig deeper... but I don't expect they'll tell us.