Archaeologists have found evidence of buildings and crop irrigation systems dating back thousands of years at Saudi Arabia's Qusairat Aad site in Al Aflaj, said the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.

Excavations at Qusairat and nearby sites began in January after a field tour of the area prompted further investigation, and have resulted in archaeologists being able to chart the chronology of life there.

Discoveries include a residential area, with a building and public facilities as well as the water channels of a crop irrigation system and other models of agricultural basins. Pottery materials and ovens were found inside the buildings.

Archaeologists say the excavations have helped to form a fuller picture of what to explore next.

The survey of water facilities and canals revealed the site was one of the largest water networks in the Arabian Peninsula.

Hundreds of thousands of undiscovered and undocumented archaeological sites exist in Saudi Arabia, according to experts.

The latest finds came amid reports that the kingdom’s cultural sector could contribute $23 billion to the country’s economy, creating more than 100,000 jobs in the next decade.

In September, camel carvings in the northern province of Al Jouf, discovered in 2018 and formerly thought to be 2,000 years old, were found to date to about 6,000 BCE, making them older than Egypt’s pyramids.