The earliest horse harnessing and milking

Author: Outram, A.K.; Stear, N.A.; Bendrey, R.; Olsen, S.; Kasparov, A.; Zaibert, V.; Thorpe, N.; Evershed, R.P.

Description: Horse domestication revolutionized transport, communications, and warfare in prehistory, yet the identification of early domestication processes has been problematic. Here, we present three independent lines of evidence demonstrating domestication in the Eneolithic Botai Culture of Kazakhstan, dating to about 3500 B.C.E. Metrical analysis of horse metacarpals shows that Botai horses resemble Bronze Age domestic horses rather than Paleolithic wild horses from the same region. Pathological characteristics indicate that some Botai horses were bridled, perhaps ridden. Organic residue analysis, using delta13C and deltaD values of fatty acids, reveals processing of mare’s milk and carcass products in ceramics, indicating a developed domestic economy encompassing secondary products.

Subject headings: Agriculture/history; Animal Husbandry/history; Animals; Animals, Domestic; Female; History, Ancient; Horses/anatomy & histology; Kazakhstan; Lipids/analysis; Metacarpal Bones/anatomy & histology; Milk; Molar/anatomy & histology; Seasons

Publication year: 2009

Journal or book title: Science

Volume: 323

Issue: 5919

Pages: 1332-1335

Find the full text: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1168594

Find more like this one (cited by): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=296417530075142769&as_sdt=1000005&sciodt=0,16&hl=en

Type: Journal Article

Serial number: 501