How it began
Mustatils, from the Arabic word for rectangle, were built in the 6th millennium BCE by early pastoralists in what is now northwestern Saudi Arabia. A team from the University of Western Australia surveying AlUla and Khaybar from the air and on the ground identified more than 1,000 of them, far more than had been recorded before. A separate team led by the Max Planck Institute documented over one hundred more in the Nefud Desert. Radiocarbon dates tie them to about 7,000 years ago.
How it works
A mustatil is built of loose stone. It typically has two large platforms connected by long, low walls that enclose a narrow rectangular court. Excavations inside found standing stones and animal remains arranged around them. The structures contain almost no everyday artifacts, which suggests they were not dwellings or animal pens.
What changed first
Because utilitarian finds are lacking, researchers interpret the mustatils as social or ritual places. The animal remains point to offerings or sacrifices to unknown deities, and possibly to communal feasting. Building them took organized group labor, which gives a view of how herding communities cooperated in a difficult environment.
What lasted
The mustatils have been reported as among the oldest monumental stone structures in the world. Their study has changed the picture of Neolithic northern Arabia from a marginal zone to one with a shared ritual tradition. Research on them continues under Saudi heritage programs centered on AlUla.
