Al-Magar was an advanced prehistoric culture of the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
whose epicenter lay in modern-day southwestern
Najd
Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...
in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. Al-Magar is possibly one of the first cultures in the world where widespread domestication of animals occurred, particularly the horse, during the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period.
Overview
The inhabitants of Al-Magar, who lived in stone houses built with dry masonry, were one of the first communities in the world to practice the art of agriculture and animal husbandry before climate changes in the region resulted in
desertification
Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities.
The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...
.
Discoveries such as that of a large statue of a bridled horse indicates that the domestication of horses occurred about 9000 years ago in the Arabian peninsula, much earlier than in other parts of the world where domestication of the horse is thought to have occurred.
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...
of several objects discovered at Al-Magar indicate an age of about 9,000 years.
In November 2017 hunting scenes showing images of what appears to be domesticated dogs resembling the
Canaan dog and wearing leashes were discovered in Shuwaymis, an area about 370 km southwest of the city of
Ḥaʼil. Dated at 8000 years before present, these are thought of as the earliest known depictions of dogs in the world.
File:قطع من أثار Øضارة المقر.jpg, A large stone carving of an equidae
Equidae (commonly known as the horse family) is the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic Family (biology), family of Wild horse, horses and related animals, including Asinus, asses, zebra, zebras, and many extinct species known only from fossils. The fa ...
- an animal belonging to the horse family. The piece itself, measuring 86 cms long by 18 cms thick and weighing more than 135kg., is a large sculptural fragment that appears to show the head, muzzle, shoulder and withers of a horse. The fact that other smaller, horse-like sculptures were found at Al-Magar, with similar bands over the shoulders, supports the idea that this culture may have been using horse tack
Tack is equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domestication of the horse, domesticated animals. This equipment includes such items as Saddle, saddles, Stirrup, stirrups, Bridle, bridles, Halter, ...
to domesticate horses.Saluki
The Saluki or Persian hound (Persian:سگ تازی، Arabic: سلوقي) is a standardised breed developed from sighthounds – dogs that hunt primarily by sight rather than strong scent – that was once used by nomadic tribes to run down game ...
breed, dating back to 8100 BC.
References
{{Portal, Saudi Arabia
Neolithic cultures of Asia
Najd
Historical regions in Saudi Arabia
World Heritage Sites in Saudi Arabia