Two engravings previously discovered in Saudi Arabia and Jordan are now thought to be blueprints of ancient desert kites, according to a recent study. Desert kites are low stone walls that make various shapes (like stars). They are thought to have been huge traps for wild animals — sometimes miles long — and there are over 6,000 of them in the Middle East and Central Asia. Check out issue #28 for more on the topic. Anyway, according to Rémy Crassard, “The amazing discovery is that the plans are to scale. [The kites/engravings are] constrained by shape, by symmetry, and by dimensions. We had no idea that people at that time were able to do that with such accuracy.” That’s really something. The researchers say the engravings and respective kites were made at about the same time (7,000-8,000 years ago). We know of some construction plans for buildings and boats in Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as some rough schematics from the Stone Age, but nothing this precise. It should be noted, however, that these engravings could also be maps of pre-existing kites used in rituals or for planning hunts, as opposed to being blueprints.