Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2200 bce in Eurasia

Horses revolutionized human history with fast mobility1. However, the timeline between their domestication and their widespread integration as a means of transport remains contentious2–4. Here we assemble a collection of 475 ancient horse genomes to assess the period when these animals were first reshaped by human agency in Eurasia. We find that reproductive control of the modern domestic lineage emerged around 2200 bce, through close-kin mating and shortened generation times. Reproductive control emerged following a severe domestication bottleneck starting no earlier than approximately 2700 bce, and coincided with a sudden expansion across Eurasia that ultimately resulted in the replacement of nearly every local horse lineage. This expansion marked the rise of widespread horse-based mobility in human history, which refutes the commonly held narrative of large horse herds accompanying the massive migration of steppe peoples across Europe around 3000 bce and earlier3, 5. Finally, we detect significantly shortened generation times at Botai around 3500 bce, a settlement from central Asia associated with corrals and a subsistence economy centred on horses6, 7. This supports local horse husbandry before the rise of modern domestic bloodlines

An Islamicate Body: A Case Study of a Nomadic Burial from the Core Territory of the Golden Horde.

Résumé : Un corps islamique : le cas d’étude d’une sépulture nomade au cœur des territoires de la Horde d’Or. Cet article revient sur la question de l’islamisation des nomades de la Horde d’Or en basse vallée de la Volga aux xiiie-xive siècles. Pour des raisons tant idéologiques que méthodologiques, ce sujet fut longtemps négligé par les chercheurs. Par ailleurs, le peu de sources fiables, directes ou « émiques », à notre disposition, a conduit à des malentendus dans l’historiographie, dont la sous-estimation du processus d’islamisation – lequel, en réalité, toucha la société nomade bien au-delà de ses seules élites gouvernantes. On ne peut accéder à une perspective plus complète de la question qu’en enrichissant les récentes recherches sur les récits de conversions qui circulaient parmi les populations de la Horde d’Or, par une étude des données archéologiques touchant aux croyances et aux modes de vie des nomades de ces régions. Pour ce faire, l’auteur présente et analyse une sépulture islamique située dans les steppes reculées de la Kalmoukie actuelle (en Fédération de Russie), peuplées exclusivement de nomades à la période médiévale. En analysant en détails cette sépulture, dont la composition et les objets entreposés ne sont pas conformes aux prescriptions de la littérature juridique musulmane, l’auteur défend l’idée que cette sépulture représente un « islam indigène » de la Horde d’Or. Cette étude souligne que les nomades convertis à l’islam tenaient pour central la parenté, l’ancestralité et le statut. Elle montre comment cet islam indigène, accepté, pratiqué et promu par les nomades, ne peut être considéré comme un phénomène superficiel mais constituait un élément essentiel de leurs rituels quotidiens, de leur identité, et du pouvoir politique qui gouvernait leur société et, plus largement, celle de la Horde d’Or.Abstract: This paper addresses the topic of Islamisation among the nomads of the Golden Horde in the Lower Volga Region in the 13-14th centuries. Due to ideological and methodological constraints, this topic has been neglected, and the lack of reliable written and emic/native sources have led to scholarly misunderstandings and an underestimation of this conversion process, which pervaded nomadic society far beyond its ruling elite. In order to gain a more holistic perspective on this issue, recent research on native conversion stories of the denizens of the Golden Horde can be fruitfully supplemented by evidence of native beliefs and actions from archaeological data. As an example, I introduce and analyse an Islamicate burial from the remote region of the steppe in modern day Kalmykia (Russian Federation) that was populated exclusively by nomads in the Middle Ages. By evaluating the details of this burial, such as its construction and the grave goods, against the norms prescribed in Muslim legal writings, I argue that this burial represents indigenous Islam. It demonstrates the concerns of the Islamicised nomads with kinship, ancestry, and status. My paper stresses how indigenous Islam, which was embraced and promulgated by the nomads’ agency, should not be seen as a superficial phenomenon, but as a crucial ingredient of nomadic ritual life, identity, and political power that served their society and the Golden Horde at large

La Horde d'Or et l'islamisation des steppes eurasiatiques

Les conversions des khans Berke (1257-67) et Özbeg (1312-41) eurent un immense retentissement dans le dār al-islām et au-delà de ses frontières. Les souverains de la Horde d’Or furent les premiers descendants de Gengis Khan à prendre le titre de sultan. Leurs orientations politiques et religieuses eurent des conséquences à long terme en Asie Centrale, en Russie et en Europe, où l’islamisation de nombreuses communautés date de la période mongole. Le passage à l’islam alla de pair avec des rituels et des règles de vie collective, l’acceptation d’un système économique et monétaire, et la construction d’une histoire commune. En milieu nomade, les récits de conversion se substituèrent aux récits d’origine en tant que narration du moment fondateur de la communauté. Quelles furent les conséquences politiques de la tolérance religieuse des Mongols ? Peut-on parler d’un islam des steppes, associé à des pratiques funéraires particulières ? Qui furent les acteurs de la transmission de l’islam et quels étaient leurs modes de prosélytisme au sein de la Horde d’Or ? Les artisans, les lettrés, et les bénéficiaires de privilèges impériaux ont-ils joué un rôle plus important que les soufis? Enfin, doit-on établir un lien entre turquisation et islamisation ? Ce numéro de la Remmm, qui réunit quatorze historiens, historiens d’art et archéologues d’une dizaine de pays, apporte des réponses concrètes à ces questions et propose de nouvelles pistes de recherche à la lumière de sources méconnues. Il offre un éclairage inédit sur un phénomène complexe touchant des régions qui s’étendent de la Chine à la Bulgarie. The conversions of the khans Berke (1257-67) and Özbeg (1312-41) had a major impact on the dār al-islām and beyond its frontiers. The rulers of the Golden Horde were the first descendants of Chinggis Khan to bear the title of ‘sultan’. Their political and religious policies had long-standing consequences in Central Asia, Russia, and Europe, where many communities converted to Islam during the Mongol period. Adopting Islam implied the acceptance of new rituals and rules for collective life, it meant entering into new economic and monetary systems, and building a new common history. In the nomadic world, conversion stories often replaced older legends of origin as the foundational narratives of peoples and communities. What were the political implications of Mongol religious tolerance? Can we discern the “Islamisation of the Steppe” through distinctive burial practices? Who were the agents of Islamisation and how did they proselytize within the Golden Horde? Did craftsmen, literati, and holders of imperial grants play a more important role in the transmission of Islam than Sufis? And, finally, should we see a link between Turkicisation and Islamisation? This volume brings together fourteen historians, art historians, and archaeologists, from ten countries, to discuss these issues. By analysing unpublished and little known sources, they open new paths for research and shed light on a complex phenomenon that spread from China to Bulgaria

Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies

International audienceThe 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 spread from the south into the northern Rockies and central plains by the first half of the 17th century CE, likely through Indigenous exchange networks. They were deeply integrated into Indigenous societies before the arrival of 18th-century European observers, as reflected in herd management, ceremonial practices, and culture

Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2200 BCE in Eurasia

International audienceAbstract Horses revolutionized human history with fast mobility 1 . However, the timeline between their domestication and their widespread integration as a means of transport remains contentious 2–4 . Here we assemble a collection of 475 ancient horse genomes to assess the period when these animals were first reshaped by human agency in Eurasia. We find that reproductive control of the modern domestic lineage emerged around 2200 bce , through close-kin mating and shortened generation times. Reproductive control emerged following a severe domestication bottleneck starting no earlier than approximately 2700 bce , and coincided with a sudden expansion across Eurasia that ultimately resulted in the replacement of nearly every local horse lineage. This expansion marked the rise of widespread horse-based mobility in human history, which refutes the commonly held narrative of large horse herds accompanying the massive migration of steppe peoples across Europe around 3000 bce and earlier 3,5 . Finally, we detect significantly shortened generation times at Botai around 3500 bce , a settlement from central Asia associated with corrals and a subsistence economy centred on horses 6,7 . This supports local horse husbandry before the rise of modern domestic bloodlines

Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2,200 BCE in Eurasia

Horses revolutionized human history with fast mobility. However, the timeline between their domestication and widespread integration as a means of transportation remains contentious. Here we assemble a large collection of 475 ancient horse genomes to assess the period when these animals were first reshaped by human agency in Eurasia. We find that reproductive control of the modern domestic lineage emerged ~2,200 BCE (Before Common Era), through close kin mating and shortened generation times. Reproductive control emerged following a severe domestication bottleneck starting no earlier than ~2,700 BCE, and coincided with a sudden expansion across Eurasia that ultimately resulted in the replacement of nearly every local horse lineage. This expansion marked the rise of widespread horse-based mobility in human history, which refutes the commonly-held narrative of large horse herds accompanying the massive migration of steppe peoples across Europe ~3,000 BCE and earlier. Finally, we detect significantly shortened generation times at Botai ~3,500 BCE, a settlement from Central Asia associated with corrals and a subsistence economy centered on horses. This supports local horse husbandry before the rise of modern domestic bloodlines.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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 spread from the south into the northern Rockies and central plains by the first half of the 17th century CE, likely through Indigenous exchange networks. They were deeply integrated into Indigenous societies before the arrival of 18th-century European observers, as reflected in herd management, ceremonial practices, and culture.</p

Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2,200 BCE in Eurasia

International audienceHorses revolutionized human history with fast mobility. However, the timeline between their domestication and widespread integration as a means of transportation remains contentious. Here we assemble a large collection of 475 ancient horse genomes to assess the period when these animals were first reshaped by human agency in Eurasia. We find that reproductive control of the modern domestic lineage emerged ~2,200 BCE (Before Common Era), through close kin mating and shortened generation times. Reproductive control emerged following a severe domestication bottleneck starting no earlier than ~2,700 BCE, and coincided with a sudden expansion across Eurasia that ultimately resulted in the replacement of nearly every local horse lineage. This expansion marked the rise of widespread horse-based mobility in human history, which refutes the commonly-held narrative of large horse herds accompanying the massive migration of steppe peoples across Europe ~3,000 BCE and earlier. Finally, we detect significantly shortened generation times at Botai ~3,500 BCE, a settlement from Central Asia associated with corrals and a subsistence economy centered on horses. This supports local horse husbandry before the rise of modern domestic bloodlines

Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2200 bce in Eurasia

Horses revolutionized human history with fast mobility1. However, the timeline between their domestication and their widespread integration as a means of transport remains contentious2–4. Here we assemble a collection of 475 ancient horse genomes to assess the period when these animals were first reshaped by human agency in Eurasia. We find that reproductive control of the modern domestic lineage emerged around 2200 bce, through close-kin mating and shortened generation times. Reproductive control emerged following a severe domestication bottleneck starting no earlier than approximately 2700 bce, and coincided with a sudden expansion across Eurasia that ultimately resulted in the replacement of nearly every local horse lineage. This expansion marked the rise of widespread horse-based mobility in human history, which refutes the commonly held narrative of large horse herds accompanying the massive migration of steppe peoples across Europe around 3000 bce and earlier3,5. Finally, we detect significantly shortened generation times at Botai around 3500 bce, a settlement from central Asia associated with corrals and a subsistence economy centred on horses6,7. This supports local horse husbandry before the rise of modern domestic bloodlines.</p