A research team led by scientists from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has discovered the earliest evidence to date of ancient humans shaping clay by hand for ritualistic purposes thousands of years before the earliest known evidence of pottery and agriculture.
The research team behind the potentially historic discovery said their finds represent the earliest known clay ornaments in Southwest Asia, beating the previous examples of the symbolic use of clay in the region by thousands of years. The findings also offer insights into how ancient humans expressed identity, belonging, and meaning through material culture during a “forgotten chapter” of the human story.
Ancient Humans Shaped and Colored Clay Even Before Using it to Make Pottery
The earliest known examples of prehistoric art and ritualistic behavior date back tens of thousands of years before present, including artwork likely made by Neanderthals rather than modern humans. Many of these ancient artworks were made before early humans formed societies, including settling in villages, making pottery, and engaging in agriculture.
Until recently, archaeologists believed that the first people to shape clay for ornamental purposes lived less than 10,000 years ago. Many of the oldest archaeological sites from the earliest societies include examples of rudimentary pottery-making or rudimentary animal or human figures, further supporting the idea that the technology was not in use until humans stopped wandering and settled down together.
Now, a team led by Laurent Davin, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the supervision of Prof. Leore Grosman, has unearthed over 100 ornamental clay beads from the Levant (currently Israel) that were successfully dated to 15,000 years before present.
According to the research team behind the new discovery, there were only five previously known clay beads from this era worldwide, none of which were discovered in the region, potentially rewriting this ancient chapter of human history.
“This discovery completely changes how we understand the relationship between clay, symbolism, and the emergence of settled life,” said Laurent Davin.
Number and Diversity of Clay Ornaments Suggest Ritualistic Purposes and ‘a Sustained Tradition’
According to a statement announcing the discovery, 142 beads and pendants were unearthed across four Natufian hunter-gatherer sites in the Levant: el-Wad, Nahal Oren, Hayonim, and Eynan-Mallaha. The oldest of the clay ornaments was dated to 15,000 years ago. However, the artefacts represent a three-thousand-year period of regular occupation.
The research team said that each of the beads, which were “small enough to fit in the palm of a hand,” had been carefully hand-formed from unbaked clay into several shapes, including discs, ellipses, and cylinders. Many were coated with red ochre. According to the team, the clay ornaments were coated with ochre using a process known as engobe, which involved a thin layer of liquid clay ‘smoothed’ onto the surface.
“This is the earliest known use of this coloring technique anywhere in the world,” the team notes.
The team also highlighted the large total and the diversity in the design of the beads, which they believe suggest that their formation and coloring were not an isolated experiment. Instead, the process was likely a “sustained tradition.”
“Clay, it turns out, had already become a medium for visual communication long before it was used for bowls or jars,” they explained.
Artefacts Were Made by Both Adults and Children
Although the discovery of the ornamental, 15,000-year-old painted clay ornaments was historic in its own right, the team noted that their close examination of the 142 pieces revealed one unexpected yet welcome surprise. Along with the occasional palm of finger mark from the ornament’s ancient molders, some had evidence of much smaller hands.
According to the team, 50 preserved fingerprints were found, including prints from adults, adolescents, and children. The researchers believe the inclusion of children in the ornaments’ formation and decoration may indicate that they were also included in the overall rituals and traditions that motivated their creation.
“Some objects appear to have been designed specifically for children, including a tiny clay ring just 10 millimeters wide,” they explained. The findings suggest that making ornaments was a shared, everyday activity, one that played a role in learning, imitation, and the transmission of social values from one generation to the next.”
Along with providing unexpected evidence that Natufian people of all ages participated in the creation of clay beads, the team noted that it is the first time archaeologists have been able to identify the makers of ornaments from this era. They also said the Paleolithic fingerprint collection is “the largest such fingerprint assemblage ever documented from this period.”
When discussing the study’s implications, Prof. Grosman expressed wonder at the insights one can draw from such significant behavior at such an exceedingly ancient time.
“These objects show that profound social and cognitive changes were already underway,” the professor said, before adding, “The roots of the Neolithic lie deeper than we once thought.”
The study “Modelling identities among the first-sedentary communities: emergence of clay personal ornaments in Epipaleolithic Southwest Asia” was published in Science Advances.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.