Domestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare1. However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling2–4 at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 bc3. Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia5 and Anatolia6, have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 bc, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations at the GSDMC and ZFPM1 genes. Our results reject the commonly held association7 between horseback riding and the massive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists into Europe around 3000 bc8,9 driving the spread of Indo-European languages10. This contrasts with the scenario in Asia where Indo-Iranian languages, chariots and horses spread together, following the early second millennium bc Sintashta culture11,12.

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Agro‐pastoral economies of prehistoric populations of Central Tian Shan highlands (2,000 masl and higher) have been poorly studied to date. Currently, we lack a general understanding of mobility and seasonality patterns of livestock herding and also lack knowledge about management strategies for particular productive goals in these high mountain valleys. In this paper, we report the results of the first systematic zooarchaeological analysis from the Final Bronze Age–Early Iron Age settlement Chap I located in Central Tian Shan highlands and discuss the data in relation to zooarchaeological evidence from contemporaneous sites in Central Asia. Our research has shown that Chap I was dominated by four domesticated herbivores: cattle, horses, sheep and goats. Data from Chap I demonstrate a strong focus on the exploitation of sheep and goats for meat and secondary products. Analysis of collagen peptides (ZooMS) from sheep/goats indicated that sheep were kept in greater numbers than goats. Sheep/goat mortality profiles and material evidence point to wool as an important product of highland pastoralism in the Central Tian Shan.

Stable isotope analyses demonstrate that C4 plants played an important dietary role in Eurasian prehistory. Uncertainty remains, however, about when and how crops were integrated into the diet of Central Asian populations. Here, the authors present δ13C and δ15N stable isotope analysis of human and animal bone collagen from Kyrgyzstan, revealing C4 plant—likely broomcorn millet—consumption in the third millennium BC. Combining this evidence with AMS radiocarbon dating and animal collagen peptide fingerprinting demonstrates that broomcorn millet was consumed by humans and animals during the earliest episodes of the westward spread of this crop plant. The results contribute to debates about the timing and means by which domesticated millets were dispersed across Eurasia.