The oldest scaled-down drawings of actual structures go back 9,000 years

Rock engravings in the Middle East may be maps or blueprints of massive desert kites

An overhead photo of a massive ancient hunting trap in Jordan.

Massive ancient hunting traps called desert kites (one in Jordan shown from above) include long walls that converge on enclosed spaces where animals were driven into pits.

O. Barge, Globalkites Project, CNRS

Two large, engraved stones found in the Middle East display the oldest known building plans drawn to scale, researchers say.