"The climate and inert landscape of Saudi Arabia means most of the archaeology is pretty well preserved on the surface from 5,000 to 8,000 years ago. So exactly as you see it is how it was all that time ago," McMahon said, explaining that understanding more about the lives of these early peoples could also shed light on how the large, dense settlements of Hegra and Dedan developed, and how cultural and technological changes in the region, such as irrigation farming, metalworking and written texts, came about over the following millennia.