How children made the Middle East’s oldest known clay figures before farming

Clay work before agriculture

The Natufians lived in the Fertile Crescent between 9,500 and 13,000 BCE. They were hunter-gatherers who were semi-sedentary before the region’s first permanent Neolithic settlements. Archaeologists had previously found small Natufian figurines made from stone and bone. The newly reported clay objects point to a different kind of craft, involving materials that could be shaped and then baked or hardened.

Animals and people depicted

The more than 150 artifacts include birds, deer and other hooved mammals, as well as male and female figures. Some pieces preserve traces of pigment or other dyes.

The finds date to 11,500–15,000 years ago, according to the researchers. Their study appeared in PLOS One, and the team says the objects are likely the earliest examples of their kind discovered in the Middle East.

Fingerprints reveal shared craft

Researchers examined indentations left in the clay and found evidence that both adults and children took part in making the figures. They interpret the traces as signs that sculpting was an intergenerational activity.

Study co-author Laurent Davin, an archaeologist at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the objects show people used clay for figures long before agriculture and pottery emerged. He said children’s involvement suggests creative practice and cultural knowledge passed between generations.