Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai

Despite its transformative impact on human history, the early domestication of the horse (Equus caballus) remains exceedingly difficult to trace in the archaeological record. In recent years, a scientific consensus emerged linking the Botai culture of northern Kazakhstan with the first domestication of horses, based on compelling but largely indirect archaeological evidence. A cornerstone of the archaeological case for domestication at Botai is damage to the dentition commonly linked with the use of bridle mouthpieces, or &ldquo;bit wear.&rdquo; Recent archaeogenetic analyses reveal, however, that horse remains from Botai are not modern domesticates but instead the Przewalski&rsquo;s horse, E. przewalskii&mdash;warranting reevaluation of evidence for domestication. Here, we compare osteological traits hypothesized to have been caused by horse transport at Botai with wild Pleistocene equids in North America. Our results suggest that damage observed in Botai horse teeth is likely generated by natural disturbances in dental development and wear, rather than through contact with bridle equipment. In light of a careful reconsideration of the mid-Holocene archaeological record of northern Eurasia, we suggest that archaeological materials from Botai are most effectively explained through the regularized mass harvesting of wild Przewalski&rsquo;s&rsquo; horses&mdash;meaning that the origins of horse domestication may lie elsewhere. </div

Caballos y humanos en el Nuevo mundo: Investigaciones arqueológicas en América del Norte y perspectivas para Argentina

After their introduction by the Spaniards and other European colonizers, horses, mules, and donkeys flourished throughout the Americas, transforming the lifestyle of the original peoples. The details of this process, however, are not well known. While zooarchaeology provides us with a means to understand the adoption of the horse in the past, horse remains are often scarce in the archeological sites of early contact and historical periods. In this study we present a methodology to address these challenges, combining paleopathological analysis, radiocarbon modeling, isotopic analysis, and ZooMS. We present our work in western North America as a case study, demonstrating the early integration of the horse with the societies of native peoples over a large geographical area. The application of this approach to the early historical groups of Argentina can generate important clues about the economic and social transitions initiated by the introduction of domestic equids.Luego de su introducción por españoles y otras poblaciones europeas, los caballos, burros y mulas se expandieron por todo el continente americano, contribuyeron al proyecto colonial de poder europeo y transformaron el estilo de vida de los pueblos originarios. Los detalles de este proceso, sin embargo, no son bien conocidos. Si bien la zooarqueología nos provee de un medio para entender la adopción del caballo en escalas temporales largas, sus restos siguen siendo escasos en los sitios arqueológicos de los periodos de contacto entre comunidades originarias y eurocriollos. Se presenta una metodología para abordar estos desafíos en un caso de estudio de las Grandes Planicies (Oeste de los Estados Unidos). Los procedimientos analíticos utilizados incluyen análisis paleopatológico, modelado por radiocarbono, análisis isotópico y ZooMS. Este caso demuestra la integración temprana del caballo por parte de los pueblos originarios a lo largo de una escala geográfica amplia. La aplicación de esta aproximación a los conjuntos históricos tempranos de Argentina puede generar importantes líneas de conocimiento sobre las transiciones económicas y sociales iniciadas por la introducción de los équidos domésticos.&nbsp

Early Pastoral Economies and Herding Transitions in Eastern Eurasia

While classic models for the emergence of pastoral groups in Inner Asia describe mounted, horse-borne herders sweeping across the Eurasian Steppes during the Early or Middle Bronze Age (ca. 3000–1500 BCE), the actual economic basis of many early pastoral societies in the region is poorly characterized. In this paper, we use collagen mass fingerprinting and ancient DNA analysis of some of the first stratified and directly dated archaeofaunal assemblages from Mongolia’s early pastoral cultures to undertake species identifications of this rare and highly fragmented material. Our results provide evidence for livestock-based, herding subsistence in Mongolia during the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia BCE. We observe no evidence for dietary exploitation of horses prior to the late Bronze Age, ca. 1200 BCE – at which point horses come to dominate ritual assemblages, play a key role in pastoral diets, and greatly influence pastoral mobility. In combination with the broader archaeofaunal record of Inner Asia, our analysis supports models for widespread changes in herding ecology linked to the innovation of horseback riding in Central Asia in the final 2nd millennium BCE. Such a framework can explain key broad-scale patterns in the movement of people, ideas, and material culture in Eurasian prehistory

Early Pastoral Economies and Herding Transitions in Eastern Eurasia

While classic models for the emergence of pastoral groups in Inner Asia describe mounted, horse-borne herders sweeping across the Eurasian Steppes during the Early or Middle Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1500 BCE), the actual economic basis of many early pastoral societies in the region is poorly characterized. In this paper, we use collagen mass fingerprinting and ancient DNA analysis of some of the first stratified and directly dated archaeofaunal assemblages from Mongolia's early pastoral cultures to undertake species identifications of this rare and highly fragmented material. Our results provide evidence for livestock-based, herding subsistence in Mongolia during the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia BCE. We observe no evidence for dietary exploitation of horses prior to the late Bronze Age, ca. 1200 BCE - at which point horses come to dominate ritual assemblages, play a key role in pastoral diets, and greatly influence pastoral mobility. In combination with the broader archaeofaunal record of Inner Asia, our analysis supports models for widespread changes in herding ecology linked to the innovation of horseback riding in Central Asia in the final 2nd millennium BCE. Such a framework can explain key broad-scale patterns in the movement of people, ideas, and material culture in Eurasian prehistory

Author Correction: Early Pastoral Economies and Herding Transitions in Eastern Eurasia (Scientific Reports, (2020), 10, 1, (1001), 10.1038/s41598-020-57735-y)

This Article contains a typographical error in the Introduction section under subheading ‘Understanding Early Horse Domestication and Transport’ where, “Historical records refer to horse-mounted warriors in western Asia by the 8th century BCE, while archaeological finds from localities like Arzhan 2 in southern Tuva show specialized horse equipment (bronze snaffle bits) and equine vertebral pathologies linked with mounted riding in Central Asia by the late 9th century BCE31.” should read: “Historical records refer to horse-mounted warriors in western Asia by the 8th century BCE, while archaeological finds from localities like Arzhan in southern Tuva show specialized horse equipment (bronze snaffle bits) and equine vertebral pathologies linked with mounted riding in Central Asia by the late 9th century BCE31.”

Bronze Age population dynamics and the rise of dairy pastoralism on the eastern Eurasian steppe

Recent paleogenomic studies have shown that migrations of Western steppe herders (WSH) beginning in the Eneolithic (ca. 3300-2700 BCE) profoundly transformed the genes and cultures of Europe and central Asia. Compared with Europe, however, the eastern extent of this WSH expansion is not well defined. Here we present genomic and proteomic data from 22 directly dated Late Bronze Age burials putatively associated with early pastoralism in northern Mongolia (ca. 1380-975 BCE). Genome-wide analysis reveals that they are largely descended from a population represented by Early Bronze Age hunter-gatherers in the Baikal region, with only a limited contribution (∼7%) of WSH ancestry. At the same time, however, mass spectrometry analysis of dental calculus provides direct protein evidence of bovine, sheep, and goat milk consumption in seven of nine individuals. No individuals showed molecular evidence of lactase persistence, and only one individual exhibited evidence of >10% WSH ancestry, despite the presence of WSH populations in the nearby Altai-Sayan region for more than a millennium. Unlike the spread of Neolithic farming in Europe and the expansion of Bronze Age pastoralism on the Western steppe, our results indicate that ruminant dairy pastoralism was adopted on the Eastern steppe by local hunter-gatherers through a process of cultural transmission and minimal genetic exchange with outside groups

New Directions in a Warming World

As the Journal of Glacial Archaeology publishes its fifth volume, we also find ourselves observing the thirty-year anniversary of the discovery of the iceman Ötzi (the Tisenjoch iceman). Although artifacts were reported melting from ancient ice for many decades prior to the iceman’s emergence from a glacier in the Tyrolean Alps, his discovery captured the imagination of the press, the public, and researchers around the world

Mongolia’s Frozen Heritage: A Summary of the Archaeology of the Cultural Cryosphere

While pastoral cultures from Mongolia and the dry steppes of eastern Eurasia have had an outsized impact on Eurasian history, the region’s geomorphology, reliance on organic materials, and a nomadic culture that lacks long-lasting architecture on the landscape have conspired to limit our knowledge of important anthropological processes in the deep past. Frozen archaeological sites, including permafrost and finds from glaciers and ice patches, serve as a key exception to this rule, providing detailed snapshots into the ancient lifeways of Mongolia’s mountain zones. However, these sites pose unique challenges for archaeological conservation, and rapid climate warming, paired with other issues like looting, threatens to degrade them faster than they can be identified, studied, or preserved. Here we summarize the known frozen heritage of Mongolia and highlight a recent to-date unpublished case study on salvaging and studying frozen archaeological sites

Horses and humans in the new world: archaeological investigations in North America and prospects for Argentina

Luego de su introducción por españoles y otras poblaciones europeas, los caballos, burros y mulas se expandieron por todo el continente americano, contribuyeron al proyecto colonial de poder europeo y transformaron el estilo de vida de los pueblos originarios. Los detalles de este proceso, sin embargo, no son bien conocidos. Si bien la zooarqueología nos provee de un medio para entender la adopción del caballo en escalas temporales largas, sus restos siguen siendo escasos en los sitios arqueológicos de los periodos de contacto entre comunidades originarias y eurocriollos. Se presenta una metodología para abordar estos desafíos en un caso de estudio de las Grandes Planicies (Oeste de los Estados Unidos). Los procedimientos analíticos utilizados incluyen análisis paleopatológico, modelado por radiocarbono, análisis isotópico y ZooMS. Este caso demuestra la integración temprana del caballo por parte de los pueblos originarios a lo largo de una escala geográfica amplia. La aplicación de esta aproximación a los conjuntos históricos tempranos de Argentina puede generar importantes líneas de conocimiento sobre las transiciones económicas y sociales iniciadas por la introducción de los équidos domésticos.After their introduction by the Spaniards and other European colonizers, horses, mules, and donkeys flourished throughout the Americas, transforming the lifestyle of the original peoples. The details of this process, however, are not well known. While zooarchaeology provides us with a means to understand the adoption of the horse in the past, horse remains are often scarce in the archeological sites of early contact and historical periods. In this study we present a methodology to address these challenges, combining paleopathological analysis, radiocarbon modeling, isotopic analysis, and ZooMS. We present our work in western North America as a case study, demonstrating the early integration of the horse with the societies of native peoples over a large geographical area. The application of this approach to the early historical groups of Argentina can generate important clues about the economic and social transitions initiated by the introduction of domestic equids.Fil: Jones, Emily Lena. University of New Mexico; Estados UnidosFil: Taylor, William Timothy Treal. State University of Colorado at Boulder; Estados Unidos. Max Planck Institute; AlemaniaFil: Belardi, Juan Bautista. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santa Cruz. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Santa Cruz. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santa Cruz. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santa Cruz; ArgentinaFil: Neme, Gustavo Adolfo. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional San Rafael. Instituto de Evolución, Ecología Histórica y Ambiente. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Evolución, Ecología Histórica y Ambiente; ArgentinaFil: Gil, Adolfo Fabian. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional San Rafael. Instituto de Evolución, Ecología Histórica y Ambiente. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Evolución, Ecología Histórica y Ambiente; ArgentinaFil: Roberts, Patrick. Max Planck Institute; AlemaniaFil: Thornhill, Cassidee. University of Wyoming; Estados UnidosFil: Hodgins, Gregory W. L.. University of Arizona; Estados UnidosFil: Orlando, Ludovic. Universite de Toulose - Le Mirail; Francia. Université Paul Sabatier; Franci