Desert Kites of Jordan and Syria
Khashabiyeh Kites · Harrat al-Shaam Kites
Pre-Pottery Neolithic to Bronze Age (~7000–3000 BCE)·Neolithic–Chalcolithic hunter-pastoralist·🇯🇴 Badia, Mafraq & Azraq, Jordan
About
About Desert Kites of Jordan and Syria
Over 5,800 kite structures sprawl across the harraat basalt deserts of Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, each comprising two converging low walls up to 5 km long funneling gazelle herds into a stone corral with circular killing pits. First noted by RAF pilot Percy Maitland in 1927, satellite survey by Globalkites now traces them from Negev to the Ustyurt Plateau. Khashabiyeh and Jibal al-Khashabiyeh present textbook funnel-to-star variants.
Why it mattersOver 5,800 kite structures sprawl across the harraat basalt deserts of Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, each comprising two converging low walls up to 5 km long funneling gazelle herds into a stone cor
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Scale of labor – communal hunting or early management/proto-domestication?
- 02Why kites cluster on migration bottlenecks but ignore equally viable terrain
Theories
- 01Cooperative mass-kill for surplus meat, hide and feasting enabling sedentary villages
- 02Landscape-scale niche construction facilitating herd management before domestication
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.7000–3000 BCE (earliest kites PPNB)
- Period
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic to Bronze Age (~7000–3000 BCE)
- Culture
- Neolithic–Chalcolithic hunter-pastoralist
- Purpose
- V-shaped mass gazelle trap with kilometres of stone guiding walls
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.7000–3000 BCE (earliest kites PPNB)
Initial construction
c. 1293 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
31.2000° N · 37.5000° E · 700 m · 2 mapped features
Jibal al-Khashabiyeh Kite Field
kite structure5-km guiding walls converging to three star pits
31.2050° N · 37.4950° EWadi Wisad Kite
kite structureClassic V-to-corral kite on basalt harra
31.1800° N · 37.6200° E
Gallery