Figurine unearthed near Sea of Galilee reveals earliest human–animal connection

At the Nahal Ein Gev II archaeology site, a figurine was discovered to be the earliest item depicting human-animal interaction.

By Joanie Margulies, Jerusalem Post, November 19, 2025

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-874509

The 12,000-year-old Natufian clay figurine from Nahal Ein Gev II, depicting a woman leaning forward and a goose

enveloping her (accompanied by an artistic reconstruction).

(photo credit: LAURENT DAVIN)

Overlooking the Sea of Galilee lies a prehistoric village, where a team of archaeologists uncovered a clay figurine dating back 12,000 years, unlike anything previously found. Uncovered by professionals at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, archaeologists say that a symbolic figurine uncovered shows a mythological or ritual scene, giving a glimpse into the spiritual world of early communities in Southwest Asia.

At the site of Nahal Ein Gev II (NEG II), this figurine is the earliest known item depicting human and animal interaction, in a project led by Dr. Laurent Davin and professors Leore Grosman and Natalie Munro. Associated with the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, their findings were originally published in PNAS, in a study that combined advanced analytical techniques to reconstruct both its physical composition and its cultural meaning and significance. Measuring at 3.7 centimeters tall, the figurine was made of clay and finished with heat around 400°C.

The level of heat used and matter of control suggest early pyrotechnology, or technology related to fire. Further analysis revealed a red pigment residue on both the woman and the goose she is seen with. A fingerprint from the artisan who made the item remained on it.

The goose was a common part of the Natufian diet, a Mesolithic culture of the region, but was also highly symbolic. In the figure, the goose is alive rather than hunted. This discovery sheds light on artistic developments and innovations in a period that was believed not to have such a skillset. This foreshadowed artistry that was to come and flourish in the Neolithic era.

The figurine was found in an area of a semicircular stone structure containing burials and other ceremonial deposits from a Late Natufian settlement at Nahal Ein Gev II, dating back approximately 12,000 years.

Different views of the 12,000-year-old Natufian clay figurine from Nahal Ein Gev II, depicting a woman leaning forward and a goose enveloping her (accompanied by technical and artistic drawings). (credit: LAURENT DAVIN)

The Natufian culture lived between 11,500 and 15,000 years ago, marking a change from a nomadic foraging society to a settled community.

This figurine portrays the society as not just agricultural, but likely experimental with narrative art and symbolic expression.

Bird feathers were used for decoration, and certain bones were used as ornaments

Other discoveries show that there was a connection between geese and ritual. Bird feathers were used for decoration, and certain bones were used as ornaments. "This discovery is extraordinary on multiple levels," Dr. Laurent Davin, the paper's lead author, said. "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." “The NEG II figurine captures a transformative moment,”

Prof. Grosman added. “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.''

Craftsmanship and cultural significance aside, the piece depicts some of the earliest forms of storytelling and spiritual connection through handmade items, over a millennium older than the rise of civilization as we know it.