A 12,000-year-old clay figurine of a woman and a goose marks symbolic innovations in Southwest Asia
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Cet article présente une figurine en argile vieille de 12 000 ans provenant d’Asie du Sud-Ouest, ce qui repousse l’émergence de plusieurs innovations fondamentales dans l’expression symbolique humaine. Cet objet est à la fois la plus ancienne représentation naturaliste d’une femme en Asie du Sud-Ouest et la plus ancienne figurine représentant une interaction entre un humain et un animal. Il est à noter que l’interaction représentée n’est pas liée à la chasse, mais présente une scène mythologique entre un humain et un oiseau, ce qui correspond à un système de croyances animistes. Enfin, la figurine témoigne d’innovations artistiques, notamment l’utilisation et la manipulation du volume de l’argile et de la lumière pour créer une perspective, préfigurant des techniques qui deviendront populaires au début du néolithique qui suivra.
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Davin L., Munro N.D., Grosman L. (2025) ‒ A 12,000-year-old clay figurine of a woman and a goose marks symbolic innovations in Southwest Asia, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122, 47, p. e2517509122. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2517509122 [Accédé le 18 novembre 2025].
Voir aussi l’interview de Laurent Davin sur le site Recherche à l’université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne :
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Myotte Duquet P. (2025) ‒ Découverte en Asie du Sud-Ouest de la plus ancienne figurine représentant une interaction humain-animal, Recherche à l’université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. https://recherche.pantheonsorbonne.fr/actualite/decouverte-en-asie-sud-ouest-plus-ancienne-figurine-representant-interaction-humain [Accédé le 18 novembre 2025].
Laurent Davin 
Nathalie Le Tellier-Becquart / UMR TEMPS 
Davin et al 2023 
Routledge
Crédit Malo Hesry