Chariots in the Eurasian Steppe: a Bayesian approach to the emergence of horse-drawn transport in the early second millennium BC

Lindner, Stephan

doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.37

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…6). A typical DOM2 profile was also found in Central Anatolia (AC9016_Tur_m1900), concurrent with two-wheeled vehicle iconography from about 1900 bc 25,26 . However, the rise of such profiles in Holubice, Gordinesti II and Acemhöyük before the earliest evidence for chariots supports horseback riding fuelling the initial dispersal of DOM2 horses outside their core region, in line with Mesopotamian iconography during the late third and early second millennia bc 27 .…”

Section: Expansion Of Steppe-related Pastoralismmentioning

confidence: 77%

The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

Librado

Khan

Fages

et al. 2021

Nature

204

152

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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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Section: Expansion Of Steppe-related Pastoralismmentioning

confidence: 77%

The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

Librado

Khan

Fages

et al. 2021

Nature

204

152

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Around the southern Urals, IE-speaking societies found economic security in bronze production and bronze trade. The Poltavka-and Abashevo-derived Sintashta culture of the southeastern Urals developed bronze manufacture into a major cottage industry, and c. 3,900 BP invented the chariot and developed chariot warfare, solidifying Iranian-speaking domination of the entire Caspian steppe (Lindner 2020). ST is the visible signature of this strategy: hoards, burials, and other finds along the routes of what had long been a waterborne trade network, which now quickly adapted and began to carry bronze from Ural and Altai mines.…”

Section: Linguistic and Extralinguistic Chronologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread

Grünthal

Heyd

Holopainen

et al. 2022

DIA

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The widespread Uralic family offers several advantages for tracing prehistory: a firm absolute chronological anchor point in an ancient contact episode with well-dated Indo-Iranian; other points of intersection or diagnostic non-intersection with early Indo-European (the Late Proto-Indo-European-speaking Yamnaya culture of the western steppe, the Afanasievo culture of the upper Yenisei, and the Fatyanovo culture of the middle Volga); lexical and morphological reconstruction sufficient to establish critical absences of sharings and contacts. We add information on climate, linguistic geography, typology, and cognate frequency distributions to reconstruct the Uralic origin and spread. We argue that the Uralic homeland was east of the Urals and initially out of contact with Indo-European. The spread was rapid and without widespread shared substratal effects. We reconstruct its cause as the interconnected reactions of early Uralic and Indo-European populations to a catastrophic climate change episode and interregionalization opportunities which advantaged riverine hunter-fishers over herders.

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“…These modern horse lineages rapidly spread across Eurasia, colonizing a region from central Anatolia to central Russia, completely replacing almost all other local populations about 4000 years ago [ 18 ]. The genetic profile of these colonizing horses was found in the archaeological remains buried in Sintashta kurgans in the West-Eurasian steppe [ 20 , 21 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unlocking Horse Y Chromosome Diversity

Cardinali

Giontella

Tommasi

et al. 2022

Genes

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The present equine genetic variation mirrors the deep influence of intensive breeding programs during the last 200 years. Here, we provide a comprehensive current state of knowledge on the trends and prospects on the variation in the equine male-specific region of the Y chromosome (MSY), which was assembled for the first time in 2018. In comparison with the other 12 mammalian species, horses are now the most represented, with 56 documented MSY genes. However, in contrast to the high variability in mitochondrial DNA observed in many horse breeds from different geographic areas, modern horse populations demonstrate extremely low genetic Y-chromosome diversity. The selective pressures employed by breeders using pedigree data (which are not always error-free) as a predictive tool represent the main cause of this lack of variation in the Y-chromosome. Nevertheless, the detailed phylogenies obtained by recent fine-scaled Y-chromosomal genotyping in many horse breeds worldwide have contributed to addressing the genealogical, forensic, and population questions leading to the reappraisal of the Y-chromosome as a powerful genetic marker to avoid the loss of biodiversity as a result of selective breeding practices, and to better understand the historical development of horse breeds.

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Chariots in the Eurasian Steppe: a Bayesian approach to the emergence of horse-drawn transport in the early second millennium BC

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 23 publications

References 18 publications

The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread

Unlocking Horse Y Chromosome Diversity

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