Tayma Mustatil Field
Tayma Mustatils · Qasr al-Hamra Mustatils
Neolithic, Arabian Late Neolithic 5200-5000 BCE·North Arabian Late Neolithic pastoralists·🇸🇦 Tabuk Province, Tayma Oasis, Saudi Arabia
About
About Tayma Mustatil Field
Cluster of 12 large mustatils on the sabkha-ward pediment southeast of Tayma oasis, distinct from the later Tayma walled city. 2-m thick head-cell platforms. Tayma examples are 5000-5200 BCE per stratified charcoal under head-cell, contemporaneous with early AlUla mustatils but built on lacustrine silt not sandstone plateau, proving mustatil adaptation to oasis margin. Faunal assemblage shows gazelle and cattle remains concentrated in head-cells, supporting ritual feasting not settlement.
Unlike Khaybar field's sandstone density, Tayma's 12 structures are spaced 300-800 m apart with 20-m causeway gap on long wall centre, aligned to Jebel Ghunaym volcanic cone 12 km NE.
Why it mattersExtends mustatil distribution 350 km north of AlUla into Tayma oasis, proving late 6th millennium ritual horizon spans entire northwest Arabian desert.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why oasis-margin location vs plateau interior
Theories
- 01Seasonal lake-edge aggregation before oasis agriculture
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.5200-5000 BCE
- Period
- Neolithic, Arabian Late Neolithic 5200-5000 BCE
- Culture
- North Arabian Late Neolithic pastoralists
- Builders
- Tayma oasis pastoralists
- Purpose
- Ritual feasting enclosures for cattle/gazelle sacrifice
- Abandoned
- c.5000 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1979 Bawden; 2021 Groucutt RCU satellite remapping
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
5200 BCE
Construction with charcoal-sealed platform base
2021
Thomas et al. dates Tayma mustatil to 5200 BCE
On the ground
Structures & features
27.6300° N · 38.5200° E · 820 m · 2 mapped features
Mustatil TM-03 Head-Cell
mustatil180-m mustatil with 1.2-m platform and cattle horn deposit
27.6290° N · 38.5220° ECauseway Gap
earthwork20-m wall opening aligned to Jebel Ghunaym
27.6310° N · 38.5180° E
Gallery