Thumamah Plateau Mustatil Field (Riyadh Region)
Thumamah Sandstone Mustatils · Riyadh Eastern Mustatil Belt
Late Neolithic (Arabian Neolithic)·Central Arabian Late Neolithic·🇸🇦 Riyadh Region, Thumamah Plateau / Rumhiyah, Saudi Arabia
About
About Thumamah Plateau Mustatil Field (Riyadh Region)
Easternmost mustatil province (620 m, 25°39′N 46°39′E) on Thumamah limestone plateau 80 km NE of Riyadh, pushing mustatil distribution 400 km east of Dawadmi core. Survey (Royal Commission Riyadh 2023) found 28 mustatils 25-410 m on flat jibal tops, oriented east-west with head chambers facing sunrise over Dahna dunes. Walls 0.5 m limestone orthostats; chambers contain cattle horn cores and barrow-like cairns. Associated Neolithic scatter (arrowheads, beads). Like Negev kites, walls survive due to plateau lack of ploughing; threatened by Riyadh entertainment city sprawl and rawdat runoff change.
Why it mattersEasternmost Saudi mustatil field, winter rainfall variant.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01East-west orientation astronomy
Theories
- 01Dahna dune-edge ritual belt
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.5800-5300 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic (Arabian Neolithic)
- Culture
- Central Arabian Late Neolithic
- Builders
- Thumamah plateau Neolithic cattle people
- Purpose
- Cattle funerary ritual enclosures between wadi camps
- Abandoned
- c.5200 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 2023 Royal Commission Riyadh plateau survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
2023
26-mustatil drone inventory
2024
Horn core AMS 5800-5300 BCE
On the ground
Structures & features
25.6500° N · 46.6500° E · 620 m · 2 mapped features
Thumamah Eastern Long Mustatil
mustatil410-m mustatil with 10-m east-facing head
25.6520° N · 46.6520° EThumamah Central Chamber Cluster
mustatilThree 7-m chambers with horn core deposit
25.6480° N · 46.6480° E