This Prehistoric Artifact Is 'World's Earliest' Depiction of Humans and Animals

A 12,000-year-old clay figurine recovered by archaeologists in Israel represents the earliest known depiction of human-animal interaction, offering an indelible glimpse of prehistoric culture.

The figurine depicts a small goose holding a naked female and was discovered in the prehistoric village of Nahal Ein Gev II, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). It was excavated by Laurent Davin and Leore Grosman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Archaeology, both of whom confirmed that the artifact predates the Neolithic period and combines several artistic styles which did not fully emerge until centuries later.

“This discovery is extraordinary on multiple levels,” Davin wrote. "Not only is this the world's earliest figurine depicting human-animal interaction, but it's also the earliest naturalistic representation of a woman found in Southwest Asia."

Preserved Fingerprint Points to Artist

According to Davin and Grosman, the figurine is one of the earliest examples of controlled pyrotechnology used to create art. The clay was heated to 400°C (about 752°F) before it was molded, with the sculptor utilizing advanced techniques to create depth on the figurine, as well as making use of light and shadow. Such techniques would not come into widespread use until thousands of years later, during the Neolithic period. Both the goose and female figure are carved with detailed anatomical accuracy.

Miraculously, a preserved fingerprint still visible on the figurine indicates that it was made by a young adult or adult female. Davin and Grosman marveled at the artist’s imagination, stressing that the creation of a fictional scene in artwork during prehistoric times was exceptionally rare. "A real goose would not adopt this kind of position on a woman, and therefore we understand that this is an imaginary scene, rather than a real one," Davin wrote in the study.

The researchers believe that the interaction between goose and woman depicts a mythological or ritualistic encounter which is synonymous with animalistic beliefs, a belief which sees humans and animals intertwined as one. "It bridges the world of mobile hunter gatherers and that of the first settled communities, showing how imagination and symbolic thinking began to shape human culture," Grosman wrote.