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As no other animal body parts were found, this led the team to deduce that they were sacrifices. And it suggested that animals were sacrificed elsewhere.

This is important because it is evidence of a highly organized cult society much older than previously thought — predating Islam in the region by 6,000 years.

"The people who built them had a shared culture and belief system, and this was not a localized practice. It spread over a huge area of Arabia, the size of Poland."

That site has the appearance of being a barren and inhospitable landscape, seen as isolated from the rest of the world except for a few notable sites such as Dedan and Hegra, however archaeological evidence such as the mustatils demonstrate that the region had a rich history. and complex. Having such a widely dispersed structure over such a large area suggests a shared belief system, language and culture on a scale I personally never imagined possible," adds Thomas.