Children Made some of the Middle East's Oldest Known Clay Figures
Researchers say more than 150 artifacts show adults and children shaped clay figures long before agriculture, pushing back the region’s symbolic art timeline by 3,000 years.
- Archaeologists discovered 154 clay figurines in Israel dating back up to 15,000 years, pushing back the timeline for symbolic clay use by up to 3,000 years. Findings were published November 11 in PLOS One.
- The Natufians, a hunter-gatherer culture in the Levant about 14,000 years ago, created these figures thousands of years before the agricultural revolution, challenging beliefs that widespread clay use emerged alongside farming.
- Microscopic analysis of around 60 fragments revealed fingerprints from adults and children, some younger than 10, suggesting hands-on intergenerational learning. Laurent Davin of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem said creativity and cultural knowledge were "shared across generations."
- Traces of red engobe on several figurines provide the earliest known evidence of this coloring technique dated to 15,000 years ago. The 15 identifiable artifacts depict birds, gazelles, and human forms.
- Archaeologist Steven Dorland of Grand Valley State University said the discovery demonstrates how much researchers can learn by broadening focus beyond adult males. This project explores the emergence of symbolic clay use in early societies.
16 Articles
16 Articles
15,000-year-old clay figurines rewrite origins of symbolic art in Southwest Asia
Archaeologists have found 154 clay figurative artefacts from Natufian sites in Israel, which indicate an unexpectedly advanced tradition of symbolic clay modelling among some of Southwest Asia’s earliest sedentary societies. This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com - © 2023 - HeritageDaily
Symbolic clay figurines change our understanding of the prehistoric Middle East
Newly discovered artifacts are evidence of the earliest known example of a tradition of making clay figurines in the Middle East—and challenge long-held beliefs about when and how clay began to be used for symbolic purposes in the region, according to a study published in PLOS One by Laurent Davin from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and colleagues.
Children made some of the Middle East's oldest known clay figures
About 10,000 years ago, a Neolithic culture in the southern Levant known as the Natufians became some of the first nomadic hunter-gatherers to transition towards agriculture. But even before this monumental lifestyle shift, members of the prehistoric community were already crafting symbolic figures from clay. What’s more, archaeologists say more than 150 recently discovered artifacts dating back 11,500 to 15,000 years ago are likely the earliest…
Children have been creating art with the help of adults for millennia. Fragmented clay figures dating back 15,000 years, discovered in what is now Israel, preserve the fingerprints of adults and young children. The discovery suggests that adults have taught children how to shape and decorate clay, [...]
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