Low stone lines and geometric patterns rest peacefully against the basalt of Harrat Khaybar, a dark lava plain in northwestern Saudi Arabia. What looked to be empty volcanic terrain is now known to contain hundreds of huge archaic buildings, found by satellite photography and limited field research. Archaeologists find a diverse landscape of enclosures, cairns, desert kites, and large rectangular constructions known as gates, spanning approximately 14,000 square km. Many are undated, but experts attribute them to Neolithic civilisations that lived here during wetter climatic periods. Scientific research of the surrounding lava flows is underway, providing preliminary temporal markers but leaving the specific purpose of some structures uncertain.
