Prehistoric clay figurines reveal early artistic traditions in the Middle East

Archaeologists discovered clay figurines in modern-day Israel that date back between 15,000 and 11,500 years ago.

Laurent Davin and a team from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem identified these artifacts as the earliest known examples of a clay figurine tradition in the Middle East. The artifacts represent birds, mammals, and humans, with some pieces showing traces of red or orange coloring. These objects were created by Natufian communities, a group of sedentary hunter-gatherers.

While these people previously made figurines from stone or bone, this discovery proves they were also using clay for symbolic purposes much earlier than previously thought. Davin and his colleagues suggest these findings show that the cultural foundations of the Neolithic age began before the agricultural revolution. The researchers also noted evidence that children participated in making these objects. This suggests that Natufian people shared creative skills and cultural knowledge across generations before they began farming.