Why would Paleolithic parents bring their children deep into dangerous caves? This image is AI-generated. (Shutterstock AI Generator)
In a nutshell
- Children as young as 2-5 years old actively created art in the deepest, most dangerous sections of Paleolithic caves, suggesting they weren’t simply tagging along but serving a deliberate purpose in these spiritual journeys.
- The “liminality theory” proposes that Paleolithic peoples, like many indigenous cultures, viewed children as having special connections to the spiritual realm because of their recent arrival from it, making them valuable mediators between worlds.
- This research challenges our modern Western notion of childhood, suggesting that prehistoric children may have held unique and valued spiritual roles in their communities rather than being merely passive learners.
TEL AVIV — Deep in the darkest sections of European caves, archeologists have found tiny handprints, finger tracings, and footprints of children as young as two years old. What would motivate Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers to bring toddlers and young children into these dangerous, oxygen-poor environments? A new theory from Tel Aviv University researchers suggests these children weren’t just tagging along; they might have been central to the spiritual purpose of these underground journeys.
A paper published in the journal Arts proposes that just as many indigenous cultures view children as having special connections to the spirit realm, our Paleolithic ancestors likely valued children for their perceived ability to communicate with cosmic forces and ancestors.
Many traditional societies consider children to exist in a transitional state between worlds. Because of their youth and recent arrival in the physical world, children are thought to maintain stronger ties to the supernatural realm they recently came from.
Children’s Marks in Deep Caves
Dr. Van Gelder)
Archaeologists have found dozens of handprints, tracings in soft clay, and footprints made by children between ages 2 and 12 across famous cave sites throughout France and Spain, including Rouffignac, Gargas, Las Chimeneas, and Basura Cave. In certain decorated caves, researchers estimate that infants made up about 9% of visitors, while older children accounted for roughly 27%.
This wasn’t random play or children simply following adults. Many of these markings appear in the hardest-to-reach sections of the caves, areas requiring crawling through tight passages, climbing steep slopes, or descending into shafts. At Fontanet cave in France, a handprint from a 4-to-5-year-old child was discovered in a shaft that required difficult climbing techniques to access. At Basura cave in Italy, footprint analysis revealed a group, including two children, who went at least 400 meters into the cave.
These environments weren’t just physically demanding but potentially deadly. Computer models show that oxygen levels in these caves could drop 18% below (causing mild hypoxia) within just 15 minutes when using torches or lamps, potentially falling to dangerous levels around 11% in areas with low ceilings. Combined with humidity above 95%, these conditions would have put significant strain on the body.
The Liminality Theory
What would justify such risks? The researchers believe these journeys had deep cosmological significance. Similar to how many contemporary Indigenous groups view caves as gateways to the underworld or wombs of the Earth Mother, Paleolithic people likely saw caves as sacred spaces for communicating with spiritual forces.
Because of their perceived in-between status and closer ties to the spirit world, children may have been valued participants, perhaps even facilitators, in these sacred journeys. Their handprints and markings weren’t random but part of intentional rituals designed to establish contact with supernatural powers.
The research draws interesting parallels with practices in modern Indigenous communities. Among the San people of the Kalahari, children participate in healing trance dances from infancy. Babies are carried by dancing mothers or sit with women’s circles, absorbing the rhythms and experiences fundamental to the community’s spiritual practices. In traditional Japanese culture, children under seven had important roles in Shinto rituals as mediums or “child gods,” believed capable of channeling deities.
The cave evidence shows that children weren’t passive observers. Analysis of finger tracings at Rouffignac Cave shows instances where children and adults worked together to create images. On one panel showing a saiga antelope, researchers identified marks made by a child under 5 years old alongside those of older individuals. In Chamber A1, children contributed heavily to the tracings, with evidence suggesting adults lifted children up to reach higher parts of the ceiling.
Rethinking Childhood in Prehistoric Societies
Paleolithic children weren’t merely learning to become adults but may have had their own distinct and valued roles in their community’s spiritual practices. For the children themselves, these experiences would have fundamentally shaped how they understood their place in the world and their relationship with supernatural forces. Rather than being sheltered from spiritual activities, they were active participants from a very young age.
These tiny cave artists may have been viewed as key mediators between this world and the realm of spirits and ancestors. Their unique in-between status, having recently arrived from the supernatural realm, may have given them special abilities in their elders’ eyes.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers employed a multidisciplinary approach combining archaeological analysis of children’s traces in Upper Paleolithic caves with anthropological insights from indigenous societies. They examined documented handprints, finger flutings, and footprints attributed to children based on size measurements (impressions ≤30mm typically belong to children under five; ≤33mm to children under seven). The study analyzed both the presence and location of these markings, noting their accessibility and environmental conditions. The team then compared these findings with ethnographic data on children’s roles in spiritual practices across various hunter-gatherer and indigenous communities worldwide.
Results
The study identified several key patterns: 1) Children’s markings appear throughout numerous decorated caves in Europe, including in the deepest and most challenging areas; 2) Many markings show evidence of collaboration between children and adults, indicating intentional inclusion rather than unsupervised play; 3) The locations of these markings in oxygen-depleted, sensory-depriving environments suggest deliberate ritual choices. When compared with ethnographic data, researchers found notable parallels in how indigenous societies view children as having special connections to the spiritual realm due to their recent arrival from it, giving them unique importance in ritual contexts as mediators between worlds.
Limitations
The study acknowledges three primary limitations: 1) The significant temporal gap between contemporary indigenous societies and Upper Paleolithic communities makes direct comparisons problematic; 2) Methods used to identify children’s markings in caves have been challenged by some researchers as potentially unreliable due to sample size limitations and human variability; 3) Interpretations of prehistoric ritual behavior are inherently speculative without direct access to Paleolithic belief systems. The researchers present their hypothesis as one possible explanation while acknowledging complementary roles for learning, play, and social integration in children’s cave experiences.
Discussion and Takeaways
This research challenges conventional views of prehistoric children as passive learners, suggesting they may have held valued roles in their communities’ spiritual practices. Their perceived liminal status—closer to the supernatural realm than adults—potentially made them effective mediators with cosmic forces. For archaeologists, this perspective invites reconsideration of children’s activities in other contexts as potentially meaningful rather than incidental. For modern readers, it demonstrates how our Western separation between children’s and adults’ worlds, between play and ritual, reflects cultural specificity rather than universal human experience. In many societies, children participate in all aspects of community life from early age, including spiritual activities, while maintaining their distinctive role.
Funding and Disclosures
The research received no external funding. The authors declared no conflicts of interest related to the study. All images in the original paper were properly credited to their sources, including photographs from researchers Megan Biesele, Melissa Heckler, Richard Katz, Marco Romano, and Leslie Van Gelder.
Publication Information
The paper, “Child in Time: Children as Liminal Agents in Upper Paleolithic Decorated Caves,” was authored by Ella Assaf, Yafit Kedar, and Ran Barkai from the Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University. It was published in the journal Arts (Volume 14, Issue 27) on March 4, 2025, and is available as an open-access publication under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
