Children played a spiritual role in prehistoric cave art

Why would prehistoric humans carry their youngest children deep into the winding, pitch-black recesses of ancient caves – places riddled with danger, low oxygen, and claustrophobic tunnels?

A new study from researchers at Tel Aviv University suggests an answer that goes beyond simple tradition or education: these children weren’t just tagging along – they were spiritual participants.

A paper recently published in Arts, a journal from MDPI, presents an innovative interpretation of children’s presence at cave art sites. The study proposes that small children were believed to serve a powerful spiritual function – acting as mediators between humans and the unseen world.

The research was conducted by Dr. Ella Assaf, Dr. Yafit Kedar, and Professor Ran Barkai from Tel Aviv University’s Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures.

Children participated in cave art

Cave paintings, particularly those found in France and Spain, date back between 40,000 and 12,000 years and continue to mystify archaeologists. 

While previous studies have focused on the adult creators of these artworks, there’s growing evidence that children were also involved. Handprints and finger paintings left by young ones, some as young as two years old, are scattered among the animal figures and abstract shapes.

Footprints and hand impressions found near these ancient paintings suggest that children didn’t merely observe – they actively took part.

“There is solid evidence of children’s participation in the artwork,” Assaf said. “This naturally raises the question: why were very young children taken on exhausting and hazardous journeys deep into the dark, meandering caves with low oxygen levels – crawling through crevices, descending shafts, and climbing rocks to reach their destination?”

So far, most hypotheses have leaned toward the educational. The assumption was that adults brought children along to pass on cultural knowledge – traditions, myths, artistic skills. But the experts believe there’s more to the story.

Children as powerful figures

“Despite extensive research on cave art, few studies have focused on the presence of children,” Kedar said. “The prevailing hypothesis is that their participation served an educational purpose. In our study, we argue that children’s involvement had an additional meaning.”

Drawing on ethnographic studies of indigenous societies and recent insights into the nature of cave rituals, the researchers suggest that small children were considered spiritually potent.

In many traditional cultures, children are not seen merely as passive observers or learners, but as powerful figures in their own right – what the researchers call “active agents.”

“Children possess a range of unique mental and cognitive traits, For this reason, indigenous cultures worldwide, throughout history and prehistory, have viewed children as ‘active agents’ – mediators between this world and the entities inhabiting the natural world, the underworld, and the cosmos as a whole,” Assaf said. 

“In this way, children made a vital contribution to their communities – hunter-gatherers who lived in nature and sought to maintain continuous, respectful relationships with various entities: animals and plants that served as food sources, stones used for toolmaking, ancestral spirits, and more.”

By involving children in cave rituals and artwork, ancient communities may have believed they were strengthening their connection to spiritual entities – animals, ancestral spirits, or cosmic forces – that governed their survival.

These were communities deeply reliant on nature, where food, tools, and spiritual meaning were derived from the landscape around them.

Children delivered messages in cave art

According to Barkai, caves themselves were often seen as liminal spaces – gateways to the underworld. For prehistoric societies, descending into the earth was not merely physical but symbolic. Within the depths, shamanic rituals could be performed to communicate with unseen forces.

“Young children were perceived as liminal beings – belonging to both the realm they had left just recently (before birth) and the world they currently inhabit,” he said. “Thus, small children were considered particularly suited to bridging the gap between the worlds and delivering messages to non-human entities.”

By this logic, children were not just extras in a ceremonial performance, but integral players. Their presence, their touch, even their handprints may have been believed to amplify the ritual’s power. 

Thus, children joined adults on journeys into the depths of caves and participated in painting and rituals as part of their role in the community – as ideal mediators with entities from the beyond.

Childhood and spiritual connection 

This study contributes to a growing body of work that rethinks the role of children in prehistory. Rather than viewing them as mere bystanders or apprentices, researchers are beginning to see young members of ancient communities as active participants in shaping both social life and spiritual practices.

By blending archaeological evidence with cultural anthropology and religious studies, the scientists opened a new window into how early humans understood the roles of the youngest among them. 

It’s a theory that paints childhood not just as a period of learning, but as a time of spiritual connection – and children, not just as learners, but as vital messengers between worlds.

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