BY CALLUM PATON ON 11/15/17 AT 12:31 PM EST
Images taken from a helicopter flying at low altitude have shown in never-before-seen detail the mysterious neolithic structures dubbed the Saudi Arabian "Gates of Hell" and may shed more light on archaeological treasures yet to be uncovered in the Gulf kingdom.
The hundreds of 9,000-year-old structures initially baffled experts when they were seen in satellite imagery. The Stone Age walls, found built in volcanic fields in Saudi Arabia's remote Harrat Khaybar region, were named the Gates Of Hell because their short, thick connecting piles of brick resembled barred gates when viewed from above.
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As well as the gate-like structures, archaeologists also identified a series of ancient walls that resembled kite shapes and round constructions that have been referred to as both wheels and bullseyes.
While the stone creations were known for generations by local bedouin tribes as "works of the old men," they were first documented in the Western archaeological community by David Kennedy from the University of Western Australia who has identified around 400 stone walls.
Kennedy's interest in the potential for archaeological discovery in the region began in the late 1960s, when he traveled through the area. A decade later, he set up the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East—an initiative to map the area that now has more than 140,000 aerial images.
More:
https://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabia-gates-hell-new-images-reveal-secrets-ancient-mystery-structures-712300
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