March 30, 2026
Archaeologists Discover 15,000-Year-Old Clay Jewelry With Children’s Fingerprints on Them
Long before pottery, agriculture, or permanent cities, humans were already shaping clay into meaningful objects. A new study published in Science Advances reveals that some of the earliest known clay ornaments, dating back 15,000 years, still carry the fingerprints of their makers. Discovered at several prehistoric sites in present-day Israel, the collection includes 142 small clay beads and pendants created by the Natufians, people who lived in the Levant region from 13,000 and 9,700 BCE.
