AMMAN - Jordan's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Tuesday a discovery of an archaeological site for religious rituals that has a history of roughly 9 000 years in the southeast part of the country.
Archaeologists found a shrine at the site with a unique ritual installation in the Neolithic time, the ministry said in a statement.
The installations, called "desert kites," were used as mass traps for hunting gazelles. They were widespread across the Middle Eastern and Southwest Asian arid landscapes, the ministry said, adding it believed the installation at the site was used for religious purposes.
"This discovery is unprecedented, as it constitutes a unique testimony of a complex ritual arrangement, dating back to the Neolithic period," the statement said.
The ministry stressed the importance of the discovery, saying it highlighted Jordan as a "cradle of civilizations which continues to amaze the world with new archaeological discoveries."