AlUla Rock Art Reveals 12,000 Years of Human History in Arabian Peninsula
Nearly 20,000 rock-art panels have been discovered and documented in Saudi Arabia’s AlUla region, providing insights into 12,000 years of human life. The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has launched an awareness campaign to highlight these archaeological studies. The documented panels include over 66,000 animal figures and more than 11,000 human figures, forming the largest indexed regional database of rock art in the Arabian Peninsula. These findings offer a detailed record of changes in human life, climate, wildlife, and the environment over millennia. Researchers analyze overlapping drawings, carving techniques, subjects, inscriptions, and rock varnish to determine the relative age of the carvings. The art depicts a transition from hunting to pastoral life, with images of ibex, oryx, ostriches, cattle, and camels. It also illustrates significant environmental shifts, showing animals like wild cattle and African wild asses in areas that are now arid, suggesting a wetter Holocene period between 8,000 and...
