Graham Chandler

In northwest Saudi Arabia, scattered across an area twice the size of Portugal, archeolog|sts and aerial surveyors have identified more than 1,000 roughly built, low, rectangular stone structures that date back 7,000 years to an era when today's deserts were savannas. These mustatils-"rectangle" in Arabic-have been long-known to regional tribes, and in 2018 archeologists began to investigate and excavate. Discoveries of animal bones and horns point toward ritual purposes. The great number of mustatils may be evidence of population and social organization. But why are there so many-and in so many different places? While no two are quite the same in length and width, all are close in height and shape. Amid more questions than clues, archeologists continue to dig.

Traces of flowers in a Neanderthal grave found 45 years ago in northern Iraq led to a theory that even the earliest humans may have expressed emotions in ritual. In 2016 archeologists returned: Could new finds lend support to the theory, or not?

Long given short shrift by Western scholars for being more schematic than to scale, Islamic maps from the 10th to the 18th century were often sophisticated images, full of insights for anyone willing to set out and explore them.

Some were found at the bottoms of wells. Some were scattered about palace rooms. Thousands of exquisitely carved works of ivory, all produced nearly 3,000 years ago in and around what is now Iraq, make up one of the most beautiful and enigmatic legacies of Assyria.

The wheel may be an all-around symbol of human progress, but how did such a simple invention cause so much controversy?

Harvesting genetic samples across the breadth of Asia, researchers are finding that the portable, long-lasting, tasty and nutritious walnut may have spread because it was an ideal traveler’s snack along the Silk Roads.