החוג לארכאולוגיה והמזרח הקרוב הקדום

A 12,000-year-old clay figurine of a woman and a goose marks symbolic innovations in Southwest Asia

Laurent Davin, Natalie D. Munro, and Leore Grosman

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Vol. 122, No. 47 Nov 2025

This paper introduces a 12,000-year-old clay figurine from Southwest Asia that pushes back the emergence of several fundamental innovations in human symbolic expression. This object is both the earliest naturalistic representation of a woman in Southwest Asia and the earliest figurine to depict a human–animal interaction. Notably, the depicted interaction is not related to hunting but presents a mythological scene between a human and a bird that is consistent with an animistic belief system. Finally, the figurine attests to artistic innovations including and manipulating clay volume and light to create perspective, foreshadowing techniques that become popular in the Early Neolithic that follows.

The role of lithic technology in shaping mobility and decision-making:The case of Ararat-1 Cave

David Nora , Ellery Frahm, Ioannis A.K. Oikonomou, Theodoros Karampaglidisf, Boris Gasparyan, Artur Petrosyan, Ariel Malinsky Buller

Quaternary Science Reviews Vol 366 Oct 2025