Between 10 and six thousand years ago the Arabian Peninsula saw the most recent of the ‘Green Arabia’ periods, when increased rainfall transformed this generally arid region. The transition to the Neolithic in Arabia occurred during this period of climatic amelioration. Various forms of stone structures are abundant in northern Arabia, and it has been speculated that some of these dated to the Neolithic, but there has been little research on their character and chronology. Here we report a study of 104 ‘mustatil’ stone structures from the southern margins of the Nefud Desert in northern Arabia. We provide the first chronometric age estimate for this type of structure – a radiocarbon date of ca. 5000 BC – and describe their landscape positions, architecture and associated material culture and faunal remains. The structure we have dated is the oldest large-scale stone structure known from the Arabian Peninsula. The mustatil phenomenon represents a remarkable development of monumental architecture, as hundreds of these structures were built in northwest Arabia. This ‘monumental landscape’ represents one of the earliest large-scale forms of monumental stone structure construction anywhere in the world. Further research is needed to understand the function of these structures, but we hypothesise that they were related to rituals in the context of the adoption of pastoralism and resulting territoriality in the challenging environments of northern Arabia.

中文翻译：

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阿拉伯北部全新世湿润时期的巨大景观：mustatil 现象

10 到 6000 年前，阿拉伯半岛经历了最近的“绿色阿拉伯”时期，降雨量增加改变了这个普遍干旱的地区。阿拉伯向新石器时代的过渡发生在这一气候改善时期。阿拉伯北部盛产各种形式的石头结构，据推测其中一些可追溯到新石器时代，但对其特征和年代的研究很少。在这里，我们报告了对来自阿拉伯北部内福德沙漠南缘的 104 座“mustatil”石结构的研究。我们为这种类型的结构提供了第一个计时年龄估计 - 大约的放射性碳日期。公元前 5000 年 - 并描述他们的景观位置、建筑和相关的物质文化和动物遗存。我们确定的结构是阿拉伯半岛已知的最古老的大型石头结构。mustatil 现象代表了纪念性建筑的显着发展，因为在阿拉伯西北部建造了数百座这样的建筑。这种“纪念性景观”代表了世界上最早的大规模纪念性石头结构建筑形式之一。需要进一步研究来了解这些结构的功能，但我们假设它们与在阿拉伯北部充满挑战的环境中采用畜牧业和由此产生的领土归属背景下的仪式有关。因为在阿拉伯西北部建造了数百个这样的建筑物。这种“纪念性景观”代表了世界上最早的大规模纪念性石头结构建筑形式之一。需要进一步研究来了解这些结构的功能，但我们假设它们与在阿拉伯北部充满挑战的环境中采用畜牧业和由此产生的领土归属背景下的仪式有关。因为在阿拉伯西北部建造了数百个这样的建筑物。这种“纪念性景观”代表了世界上最早的大规模纪念性石头结构建筑形式之一。需要进一步研究来了解这些结构的功能，但我们假设它们与在阿拉伯北部充满挑战的环境中采用畜牧业和由此产生的领土归属背景下的仪式有关。