Could tiny clay figurines hold the key to understanding how prehistoric communities passed down knowledge and traditions? A new study reveals that children and adults worked together to create miniature figures, with ancient fingerprints offering rare evidence of hands-on learning across generations. The discovery of 154 clay artifacts dating back as far as 15,000 years challenges the belief that sophisticated symbolic expression emerged during the end of the Paleolithic, suggesting that at that time they were far more artistically innovative than previously thought.
Long before the emergence of farming villages and the invention of pottery, people living in what is now Israel were already shaping clay into miniature figures of birds, animals and humans. A new study has uncovered evidence of a 15,000-year-old artistic tradition, challenging longstanding assumptions about when early societies began using clay for symbolic expression.
The research identified 154 clay figurative artifacts from three archaeological sites in Israel, including 15 recognizable figurines and 139 cylindrical fragments believed to have formed parts of figures. The findings provide the earliest evidence of an established clay figurine-making tradition in Southwest Asia, suggesting that artistic innovation and complex symbolic practices emerged well before the establishment of farming communities.
The artifacts were created by members of the Natufian culture, communities that lived in the region approximately 15,000 to 11,650 years ago. These communities were the first in Southwest Asia to establish permanent or semi-permanent settlements. Until now, researchers generally believed that the widespread use of clay for symbolic figures developed alongside agriculture during the Neolithic period.
The study was led by Dr. Laurent Davin, Prof. Leore Grosman and Prof. Anna Belfer-Cohen from Hebrew University in collaboration with Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron, Prof. Reuven Yeshurun, Prof. Daniel Kaufman of the University of Haifa, Dr. Marion Sindel and Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem and and Dr. François R. Valla from the CNRS and Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem.
"These discoveries change how we understand the beginnings of artistic expression in this region," said Davin. "Thousands of years before agriculture emerged, people were already using clay to create figures, as part of their beliefs and knowledge of the natural world. What is particularly fascinating is the evidence that children were involved in making these objects, suggesting that creativity and cultural knowledge were shared across generations."
Ancient Fingerprints Reveal Children at Work
One of the study's most remarkable findings concerns the people who created the figurines. Using microscopic analysis of fingerprints preserved in the clay, the researchers found evidence that both adults and children participated in shaping and decorating the objects. Some fingerprints belonged to children likely younger than ten, offering rare insight into childhood and learning in prehistoric societies.
On one human-shaped figurine, researchers identified two overlapping fingerprints, one left by a young adult or adult woman and another by a child who had not yet reached puberty. Their placement suggests that the object may have been passed between an older individual and a child during its creation, providing possible evidence of hands-on learning across generations.
The children's fingerprints were not simply accidental marks. Their placement indicates that children actively participated in shaping and even coloring the objects, suggesting that figurine-making may have helped transmit artistic skills and cultural knowledge.
Birds, Animals and the Beginnings of Storytelling
Among the 15 identifiable figurines, birds were the most common subject, accounting for 11 examples. The remaining figures included representations of a mammal, a gazelle and two human forms.
Some birds were represented through simple shapes, while others displayed carefully marked wings, tails and feathers. Several appear to depict ducks and geese, while others may represent birds of prey. Interestingly, certain figurines show birds with their heads tilted downward and turned to the left, a posture researchers suggest may represent courtship displays observed among ducks during the breeding season.
This raises the possibility that the figurines were more than decorative objects. They may have conveyed knowledge about animal behavior, seasonal changes and the natural world, potentially playing a role in storytelling and cultural traditions.
Researchers also discovered traces of red coloring on several figurines, including evidence of engobe, a technique involving the application of a thin layer of colored clay. One figurine, dated to 15,000 years ago, provides what the study identifies as the earliest known evidence of this coloring technique.
Rethinking the Origins of Human Artistic Expression
The discoveries were made at three Natufian sites: Eynan-Mallaha in the Upper Jordan Valley, Hayonim Terrace in the Galilee and el-Wad Terrace on Mount Carmel. Researchers examined previously overlooked clay fragments, identifying fingerprints, tool marks and traces of coloring that revealed deliberate artistic work.
Unlike carving figures from stone or bone, working with clay allowed people to gradually build, reshape and decorate their creations, representing an important technological and artistic development.
The findings challenge the longstanding view that major advances in symbolic expression emerged alongside agriculture. Instead, they suggest that early hunter-gatherer communities were already developing sophisticated artistic traditions in the first villages of humanity, sharing knowledge across generations and finding new ways to represent the world around them.
These tiny clay figures offer a rare glimpse into the creativity and everyday lives of some of the region's earliest settled communities, thousands of years before the agricultural revolution.
This study is part of a broader research project exploring the emergence of the symbolic use of clay in Southwest Asia. The project has already led to the discovery of the earliest known figurine depicting a human–animal interaction, found at Nahal Ein Gev II ( PNAS ), and the earliest known clay ornaments outside Europe ( Science Advances ).
