Origins of equine dentistry

Abstract

From the American West to the steppes of Eurasia, the domestic horse transformed human societies, providing rapid transport, communication, and military power, and serving as an important subsistence animal. Because of the importance of oral equipment for horse riding, dentistry is an essential component of modern horse care. In the open grasslands of northeast Asia, horses remain the primary form of transport for many herders. Although free-range grazing on gritty forage mitigates many equine dental issues, contemporary Mongolian horsemen nonetheless practice some forms of dentistry, including the removal of problematic deciduous teeth and the vestigial first premolar ("wolf tooth"). Here, we present archaezoological data from equine skeletal remains spanning the past 3,200 y, indicating that nomadic dental practices have great antiquity. Anthropogenic modifications to malerupted deciduous central incisors in young horses from the Late Bronze Age demonstrate their attempted removal, coinciding with the local innovation or adoption of horseback riding and the florescence of Mongolian pastoral society. Horse specimens from this period show no evidence of first premolar removal, which we first identify in specimens dating to 750 BCE. The onset of premolar extraction parallels the archaeological appearance of jointed bronze and iron bits, suggesting that this technological shift prompted innovations in dentistry that improved horse health and horse control. These discoveries provide the earliest directly dated evidence for veterinary dentistry, and suggest that innovations in equine care by nomadic peoples 1150 BCE enabled the use of horses for increasingly sophisticated mounted riding and warfare.

Early Pastoral Economies and Herding Transitions in Eastern Eurasia

“…Together, this broad summary of extant scholarship supported by new data from Mongolia point to a pronounced increase in the numbers of horses used by pastoralists across multiple different ecozones of Central Asia at the end of the second millennium BCE. Aligned with a growing body of scholarship linking this period with the adoption of riding both in Mongolia [35][36][37]75 and more broadly across Central Asia 25,28,67 , our results support a direct link between increased economic reliance on domestic horses and the emergence of mounted riding among East or Central Asian pastoralists -ca. 1200 BCE.…”

“…Osteological features on DSK horse burials indicate that these animals were bridled and heavily exerted 34,35 and were probably used for mounted riding 36 . People in the DSK culture group appear to have experimented with veterinary care and dentistry 37 and managed horses in breeding herds 38 . Although only a few DSK habitation sites have been identified, this period is associated with the first archaeofaunal evidence for dietary exploitation of horses 39 .…”

Dairy pastoralism sustained eastern Eurasian steppe populations for 5,000 years

“…We observe direct evidence of horse milk consumption on the Eastern Steppe, in the form of equine ( Equus ) specific peptides from the milk whey proteins BLG (I and II) and lysozyme C in individuals associated with the Baitag and Slab Grave cultures in Western Mongolia dated to the late second millennium BC ( Table 1 ). In addition to the appearance of horses in dietary assemblages 21 , this time period is linked with the proliferation of horses in ritual sites, the first direct archaeological evidence for horse bridling and riding 25 , 44 , the first evidence for horse breeding and management 22 , 23 , innovations in horse healthcare 24 , an expanded use of dry intermontane grasslands 23 , 24 , 45 and the emergence of mobile, horse-facilitated pastoralism in Eastern Eurasia. Our findings suggest that the incorporation of horses into dairy herds may have been closely linked to this multi-faceted economic transformation in the use of horses 45 .…”

“…Satellite burials containing multiple animals surrounding ritual human internments attest to pastoral culling and herd management patterns of sheep, goat, cattle, and horses during this period 22,23 . By 1200 BC, remains of domesticated horses became almost ubiquitous at ritual burials sites in Northern Mongolia, with some of the crania displaying evidence for equine dentistry and horse bridling and riding 24,25 .…”

Quaternary Highlights (July–September 2018)

“…For further relevant readings, see Caley et al [7], Hazzi et al [8], Hildebrand et al [9], Maier et al [10], Nogués-Bravo et al [11], Nolan et al [12], Scerri et al [13], and Taylor et al [14].…”