Kites — new discoveries and a new type

Abstract

The stone structures known as kites and found widely in ‘Arabia’, are one of the more intriguing archaeological traces in what are often arid and bleak landscapes. They were first reported from the air in 1927, and by 1995 — largely through interpretation of old aerial photographs — c.500 had been identified. Now (2012), remote‐sensing techniques of various kinds have produced a huge increase, to over 3000. Recent work has also extended the geographical spread of kites in ‘Arabia’, from south‐eastern Turkey and north‐western Iraq to central Yemen. Much detailed work will be required to develop and refine a typology for kites as a whole and to digest and present data from remote sensing on which specialists may build interpretations and explanations. Current tabulation and mapping, however, already reveal patterns, and the discovery of an unusual form in the desert between Damascus and Palmyra in Syria deserves special attention.

‘Gates’: a new archaeological site type in Saudi Arabia

“…Since the publication of that initial article and of a subsequent article which included a short discussion of gates (Kennedy, : 3193–3194, 3199–2000), there has been extensive and often systematic exploration of many high‐resolution windows in Google Earth. In particular, much of the entire Harret Khaybar lava field is covered by high‐resolution imagery and has been systematically scoured (Kennedy et al., ; see also Kennedy, ); likewise, parts of the wider landscape and of other areas along the west coast of Saudi Arabia have been explored, some systematically and some as random sampling (e.g. Kennedy & Bishop, ).…”

Kites in Saudi Arabia

“…The kites seen in Harret Khaybar are not only notable for their distinctive forms (especially the ‘barbed’ type seen above); types found elsewhere are absent. There are none of the ‘sock head’ type reported in Syria (Kennedy : 152–154) and south‐west Jordan (Abu‐Azizeh & Tarawneh, this volume), and perhaps that recorded by Ryckmans (see Fig. ).…”

“…One such new window did indeed reveal more kites – taking the total to 297 by September 2011. By 2012 the total had been increased again from the upload of further high‐resolution windows by Google, including the discovery of fifty‐five around Al‐Ha'it on the eastern side of the harra (Kennedy : 147) (Fig. ).…”

“…The evidence for the dating of kites in general has been summarised several times recently; overall, there is very little secure evidence to work with (Kennedy : 145 with references; cf. Betts ; Zeder & Bar‐Oz ).…”

Northernmost kites?

“…Many new discoveries were published (Kennedy, 2012;Barge et al, 2013;Kempe and Al-Malabeh, 2013) and the number of listed kites soared from several hundred to several thousand, considerably widening their distribution range (the inventory piloted by the Globalkites project includes over 4,500 kites (summer 2014)). This list is accessible online: www.globalkites.fr.…”