Topic:Archaeology
The study of archaeology and horses explores the historical and cultural significance of equines in human societies through material remains and artifacts. It investigates how horses have been utilized in various aspects of life, such as transportation, agriculture, warfare, and trade. Archaeological research in this area often involves the analysis of skeletal remains, tools, art, and other artifacts that provide insights into the domestication, breeding, and management of horses throughout history. This topic includes examinations of burial sites, ancient texts, and iconography that reflect the roles horses played in different civilizations. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that analyze the archaeological evidence and interpretations related to the historical interactions between humans and horses.
Early Iron Age horse exploitation in Thrace (Bulgaria) inferred from dental attrition and vertebral pathology. To assess pathological lesions observed in an Early Iron Age (8th-century BCE) horse to gain insight into equine use and management in the past. Methods: The study is based on a nearly complete adult horse skeleton recovered from a pit at an archaeological site near Chirpan, Thracian Valley, southern Bulgaria. The assemblage is radiocarbon dated to the 8th century BCE and represents one of the few well-documented Early Iron Age equine skeletons from Bulgaria. Methods: Preserved skeletal elements were examined macroscopically following standard zooarchaeological and palaeopathological protocols...
Sequencing and Analysis of mtDNA Genomes from the Teeth of Early Medieval Horses in Poland. This study presents the sequencing and analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genomes from nine early medieval horse remains excavated across archaeological sites in Silesia region in present day Poland. Methods: Using aDNA extraction protocols optimized for short fragments, combined with target enrichment and high-throughput sequencing, we reconstructed partial mtDNA sequences for seven of the specimens. Results: The authenticity of the aDNA was confirmed through damage pattern analysis. Phylogenetic reconstruction revealed that the specimens belonged to six distinct mtDNA lineages (B, D, E, G...
Mitochondrial genomes of Middle Pleistocene horses from the open-air site complex of Schöningen. Deep-time palaeogenomics offers rare insights into macroevolutionary events for both extant and extinct species. Aside from a Middle Pleistocene genome from North American permafrost (780-560 ka) and a number of Late Pleistocene specimens, most ancient horse DNA studies have focused on tracing the origins of domestication and subsequent periods. Here we present mitochondrial genomes from two Equus mosbachensis specimens from Schöningen, Germany, a Middle Pleistocene archaeological site complex with direct and repeated evidence of hominin-horse interactions on the shore of a palaeolake. Usin...
Unveiling the Xianbei cavalry: a multidisciplinary approach to restore and analyse the first horse-cavalry armour set in China. Between the third and sixth centuries AD (Anno Domini), the Xianbei emerged as a dominant nomadic power in the Eastern Eurasian Steppe, distinguished by their exceptional equestrian culture and the pivotal role of cavalry in warfare. Despite their historical significance, detailed knowledge of their cavalry's weaponry and equipment-particularly armour-remains fragmentary. As a critical element of military technology, armour offers valuable insights into ancient combat strategies and cultural practices. However, research on early Chinese cavalry armour has been constrained by limited textual re...
Early transatlantic movement of horses and donkeys at Jamestown. Domestic equids were central to the initial colonization of the Atlantic coast of the Americas, a process partially chronicled by historical records. While Spanish colonists brought horses to the Caribbean decades earlier, settlement of the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, was among the first dispersals of horses to the eastern seaboard. Archaeozoological analysis of identifiable domestic equid remains from two contexts associated with the initial occupation of Jamestown demonstrates intense processing and consumption of the first Jamestown horses during the "Starving Time" winter of 160...
Late Iron Age and Roman equine breeding north of the Alps: Genetic insights and cultural implications. The Roman conquest of the northern Alpine foreland in 15 BCE introduced larger-sized horses and hybrid mules to the region. To investigate their genetic profiles and influence on local breeding, we analyzed our previously generated shallow shotgun DNA data from 402 Late Iron Age and Roman equids, supplemented with mitochondrial and nuclear capture data from 40 to 31 equids from the same regions and periods. Late Iron Age and Roman horses exhibit high matrilineal diversity, with unique haplogroups in the latter indicating exogenous animals. The preferred use of male mounts in army service menti...
The genomic history of Iberian horses since the last Ice Age. Horses have inhabited Iberia (present-day Spain and Portugal) since the Middle Pleistocene, shaping a complex history in the region. Iberia has been proposed as a potential domestication centre and is renowned for producing world-class bloodlines. Here, we generate genome-wide sequence data from 87 ancient horse specimens (median coverage = 0.97X) from Iberia and the broader Mediterranean to reconstruct their genetic history over the last ~26,000 years. Here, we report that wild horses of the divergent IBE lineage inhabited Iberia from the Late Pleistocene, while domesticated DOM2 horses, nati...
Neanderthal coasteering and the first Portuguese hominin tracksites. Multiple sources of evidence for the systematic use of coastal ecosystems and resources by Neanderthals are known. Fossil hominin footprints offer direct portraits of individual or social group presence and locomotor behavior, and interspecific interactions, in the coastal ecospace. Here we describe the first two hominin tracksites found in the southwestern most region of Europe. At Monte Clérigo, dated to 78 ± 5 ka, trackways of three individuals demonstrate how Neanderthals navigated dune landscapes. These behaviors suggest route planning, with dune systems serving as advantageous set...
Understanding horse domestication and horse health care in the ancient world. Many of the most important equine health problems - and their solutions - relate to the role of horses as a domestic animal, especially in riding and other kinds of transport. Recently, new discoveries from the archaeological sciences have rewritten our understanding of early horse domestication, suggesting that the first ancestors of domestic horses emerged in the Black Sea Steppes of western Eurasia at the turn of the second millennium BCE. This new chronology places horse domestication within a wider trajectory of early animal transport, including cattle and donkey, across western Asia and ...
3000 yr-old patterns of mobile pastoralism revealed by multiple isotopes and radiocarbon dating of ancient horses from the Mongolian Altai. Pastoral nomadism is of great cultural and economic importance in several regions of the world today. However, documenting ancient patterns of mobility in societies where pastoralism was central is challenging and requires tailored approaches and methodologies. Here we use strontium, oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses of dental enamel, together with a local strontium isoscape, to reconstruct the mobility patterns of seven domestic horses deposited in a Late Bronze Age grave from western Mongolia. Radiocarbon indicates that the animals were deposited within a short period of time, 3000 years a...
Wild horses: Tartar warfare and the history of civilization. In 1644, the Manchus, a Tungusic population from northeast Asia, conquered Ming China, establishing the Qing Empire. Four years later, Crimean Tartar horsemen joined a major uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, gravely destabilizing one of Europe's largest states. These near-simultaneous incursions by ostensibly nomadic, horse-riding 'Tartars' into firearm-defended sedentary states generated extensive historiographical reflection on the role of nomads and their warhorse-centred armies in shaping human history. This article explores how the Jesuit Martino Martini drew on these T...
Nay to Prey: Challenging the View of Horses as a “Prey” Species. This paper challenges the prevalent characterization of domesticated horses as prey species that inherently view humans as predators. Drawing on evolutionary, ethological, and cognitive evidence, we propose the "mutualistic coevolution hypothesis", which posits that horses and humans have evolved a partnership marked by cooperation rather than fear. We critically assess the "prey hypothesis", emphasizing a predator-prey model, which dominates equine training and the literature, and we argue that it inadequately explains horses' morphology, behaviors, and cognitive capacities. Comparative studi...
Tracing horseback riding and transport in the human skeleton. Among the most widely used methods for understanding human-horse relationships in the archaeological record is the identification of human skeletal pathologies associated with mounted horseback riding. In particular, archaeologists encountering specific bony changes to the hip, femur, and lower back often assert a causal link between these features and prolonged periods of mounted horseback riding. The identification of these features have recently been used to assert the early practice of mounted horseback riding among the Yamnaya culture of western Eurasia during the third and fourth millenn...
Genome-wide population affinities and signatures of adaptation in hydruntines, sussemiones and Asian wild asses. The extremely rich palaeontological record of the horse family, also known as equids, has provided many examples of macroevolutionary change over the last ~55 Mya. This family is also one of the most documented at the palaeogenomic level, with hundreds of ancient genomes sequenced. While these data have advanced understanding of the domestication history of horses and donkeys, the palaeogenomic record of other equids remains limited. In this study, we have generated genome-wide data for 25 ancient equid specimens spanning over 44 Ky and spread across Anatolia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mo...
Early Evidence of Post-Mortem Fetal Extrusion in Equids: A Case from the Western Zhou Period (1045-771 BC) Site of Yaoheyuan in Northwestern China. Post-mortem fetal extrusion, also known as "coffin birth", refers to the phenomenon where a fetus is pushed out of a deceased female due to pressure from decomposing gas in the abdominal cavity. While post-mortem fetal extrusion has been documented in humans at several archaeological sites, there are few reports of it occurring in non-human animals. In this study, we present a case of post-mortem fetal extrusion in equids observed in a chariot-horse pit (CMK2) at the Western Zhou period site of Yaoheyuan in northwestern China, dating to the early first millennium BC. This specific pit, one of ...
Ancient Mitochondrial Genomes Provide New Clues in the History of the Akhal-Teke Horse in China. This study analyzed ancient DNA from the remains of horses unearthed from the Shihuyao tombs. These were found to date from the Han and Tang Dynasties in Xinjiang (approximately 2200 to 1100 years ago). Two high-quality mitochondrial genomes were acquired and analyzed using next-generation sequencing. The genomes were split into two maternal haplogroups, B and D, according to a study that included ancient and contemporary samples from Eurasia. A close genetic affinity was observed between the horse of the Tang Dynasty and Akhal-Teke horses according to the primitive horse haplotype G1. Histori...
An archaeozoological dataset for 3000 years of animal management in the Netherlands. This paper presents an archaeozoological dataset listing numbers of identified fragments for domestic cattle, sheep/goat, pig and horse from archaeological sites in the Netherlands dating from the Bronze Age to the Early Medieval period (c. 2000 BC - AD 1050) [1]. In addition to fragment numbers per species, the geo-referenced dataset includes chronological information, site descriptions, and bibliographic references. Data were collected from tables listing numbers of bone fragments per animal species as found in published and unpublished reports. Number of identified bone fragments per animal...
La Tène Horse Remains from Alba Iulia CX 143 Complex: A Whole Story to Tell. The present paper deals with the archaeozoological investigation carried out on a horse skeleton discovered in a Late Iron Age La Tène tomb (coded CX 143) in Alba Iulia, Romania. The paper presents all the results of the investigation, with a description of finds, adding a detailed assessment of the dentition with some interesting conclusions on the usage of a horse bit and the possible consequences of this use. The morphological features of the horse indicate a 7-8-year-old male individual, with a recalculated height of 1200-1300 mm. What is also stressed in the investigated sample is the la...
Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe. Horse sacrifice and deposition are enigmatic features of funerary rituals identified across prehistoric Europe that persisted in the eastern Baltic. Genetic and isotopic analysis of horses in Balt cemeteries [1st to 13th centuries CE (Common Era)] dismantle prevailing narratives that locally procured stallions were exclusively selected. Strontium isotope analysis provides direct evidence for long-distance (~300 to 1500 kilometers) maritime transport of Fennoscandian horses to the eastern Baltic in the Late Viking Age (11th to 13th centuries CE). Genetic analysis proves that horses of both sexe...
Isotopic biographies reveal horse rearing and trading networks in medieval London. This paper reports a high-resolution isotopic study of medieval horse mobility, revealing their origins and in-life mobility both regionally and internationally. The animals were found in an unusual horse cemetery site found within the City of Westminster, London, England. Enamel strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope analysis of 15 individuals provides information about likely place of birth, diet, and mobility during the first approximately 5 years of life. Results show that at least seven horses originated outside of Britain in relatively cold climates, potentially in Scandinavia or the West...
The Characteristics, Distribution, Function, and Origin of Alternative Lateral Horse Gaits. This article traces the characteristics, origin, distribution, and function of alternative lateral horse gaits, i.e., intermediate speed lateral-sequence gaits. Such alternative lateral gaits (running walk, rack, broken pace, hard pace, and broken trot) are prized by equestrians today for their comfort and have been found in select horse breeds for hundreds of years and even exhibited in fossil equid trackways. After exploring the evolution and development of alternative lateral gaits via fossil equid trackways, human art, and historical writings, the functional and genetic factors that led to...
Genetic History of the Altai Breed Horses: From Ancient Times to Modernity. This study focuses on expanding knowledge about the genetic diversity of the Altai horse native to Siberia. While studying modern horses from two Altai regions, where horses were subjected to less crossbreeding, we tested the hypothesis, formulated on the basis of morphological data, that the Altai horse is represented by two populations (Eastern and Southern) and that the Mongolian horse has a greater genetic proximity to Eastern Altai horses. Bone samples of ancient horses from different cultures of Altai were investigated to clarify the genetic history of this horse breed. As a genetic mark...
Mitochondrial DNA sequencing illuminates genetic diversity and origin of Hunagrian Nonius horse breed and his relatives – Danubian horse and Serbian Nonius. From a historical perspective, horse breeding in Bulgaria has been very well developed since the time of the Thracians (early Bronze Age c. 3000 BCE). Archaeological discoveries from this era present us with an extremely rich type diversity, including wild and local primitive horses, the prototype of heavy draft horses, and fine riding horses.The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic structure of unexamined populations of three closely related horse breeds - the Danubian Nonius Hungarian Nonius and Serbian Nonius horses. A 608?bp long fragment of the mtDNA D-loop region was am...
Ancient DNA reveals an early adoption of horse culture by Native Americans. Native Americans of the Plains and Rocky Mountains are renowned for their horsemanship. Taylor et al. recently used ancient DNA and other bioarcheological approaches to document how horses dispersed throughout America and transformed Native American societies following their introduction by the Spanish in 1519, well before the arrival of European settlers.
Refining the evolutionary tree of the horse Y chromosome. The Y chromosome carries information about the demography of paternal lineages, and thus, can prove invaluable for retracing both the evolutionary trajectory of wild animals and the breeding history of domesticates. In horses, the Y chromosome shows a limited, but highly informative, sequence diversity, supporting the increasing breeding influence of Oriental lineages during the last 1500 years. Here, we augment the primary horse Y-phylogeny, which is currently mainly based on modern horse breeds of economic interest, with haplotypes (HT) segregating in remote horse populations around the wor...
New Data on Dental Morphology of Hipparion tchicoicum Ivanjev, 1966 from Western Transbaikalia, Russia. Morphological features of the teeth were studied in the three-toed horse Hipparion tchicoicum from the Pliocene of Western Transbaikalia (Russia). Several diagnostic signs of the Chicoi hipparion were described for the first time to provide criteria for distinguishing the taxon among other fossils of three-toed horses and estimating their real diversity at the final stage of their distribution in Inner Asia.
Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies. The horse is central to many Indigenous cultures across the American Southwest and the Great Plains. However, when and how horses were first integrated into Indigenous lifeways remain contentious, with extant models derived largely from colonial records. We conducted an interdisciplinary study of an assemblage of historic archaeological horse remains, integrating genomic, isotopic, radiocarbon, and paleopathological evidence. Archaeological and modern North American horses show strong Iberian genetic affinities, with later influx from British sources, but no Viking proximity. Horses rapidly sp...
DNA methylation-based profiling of horse archaeological remains for age-at-death and castration. Age profiling of archaeological bone assemblages can inform on past animal management practices, but is limited by the fragmentary nature of the fossil record and the lack of universal skeletal markers for age. DNA methylation clocks offer new, albeit challenging, alternatives for estimating the age-at-death of ancient individuals. Here, we take advantage of the availability of a DNA methylation clock based on 31,836 CpG sites and dental age markers in horses to assess age predictions in 84 ancient remains. We evaluate our approach using whole-genome sequencing data and develop a capture assay...
Diversity of mitochondrial D-loop haplotypes from ancient Thracian horses in Bulgaria. The domestication of the horse began possibly more than 5000 years ago in the western part of the Eurasian steppe, and according to the leading hypothesis, horses first spread from the Steppe toward the region of the Thracian culture, starting in the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE and flourished from the fifth to first centuries BCE, mainly located in present-day Bulgaria. We analyzed 17 horse bone remains excavated from Thracian archaeological sites (fourth to first centuries BCE) in Bulgaria and successfully identified 17 sequences representing 14 different haplotypes of the mitocho...