Private Collection of Seima-Turbino Bronzes From the Irtysh: The Tragedy of a Unique Site Destroyed by Unauthorized Excavations

Молодин, В.И.; Neskorov, A.V.

doi:10.1016/j.aeae.2010.10.006

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is indisputable, so the evidence base tells us less about the existence of seagoing boats, but more perhaps about the nature of coastal archaeological preservation, developments in artistic traditions and how societies wished to project what was important to them. Whilst the Botai culture has provided no artistic portrayal horse husbandry, horse harnessing is depicted in bronze artifacts found of the Elunino Culture and Seima-Turbinsky complex of the Early Bronze Age in the Ob-Irtysh Region of Kazakhstan and Russia (Molodin and Neskorov, 2010;Kovtun, 2013;Merts, 2016). Horses, with a stocky neck and brushy mane -signature traits of Przewalski (Botai-lineage) horses -are depicted on the pommels of knife hilts often straining against reins.…”

Section: Challenges To Botai Domestication Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A classic example recently discovered in North East Kazakhstan (Merts, 2016) can be seen in Figure 4. Another example from the Ob-Irtysh interfluve in Russia depicts two horses in parallel, both with reins (Molodin and Neskorov, 2010), whilst one depicts a person on the ground holding and pulling the reins (Kovtun, 2013), removing any doubt that control by harnessing is what is being depicted. The potential significance of these bronzes to horse domestication is only becoming apparent now that the geospatial and temporal dynamics of Botai-lineage and DOM2 horses has become more apparent from genomic work (Gaunitz et al, 2018;Librado et al, 2021).…”

Section: Challenges To Botai Domestication Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Horse domestication as a multi-centered, multi-stage process: Botai and the role of specialized Eneolithic horse pastoralism in the development of human-equine relationships

Outram¹

2023

Front. Environ. Archaeol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For over a decade there has been general, but not universal, consensus that the earliest known evidence for horse husbandry was at Eneolithic Botai, Kazakhstan, circa 3,500 BCE. Recent ancient genomic analyses, however, indicate that Botai is not the source of modern domestic horse stock (DOM2 lineage), but is instead related to the Przewalski clade of horses. DOM2 appears to instead to have emerged in early Bronze Age (mid 3rd Mill. BCE) in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, and spread quickly replacing other horse lineages after approximately 2,000 BCE. Whilst the specific evidence for earlier husbandry at Botai is not diminished by this evidence, it has broken the consensus regarding the early stages of horse domestication, with some now viewing it as a later event. This paper argues that domestication is rarely an event, but instead a process that is ongoing. The case is made for a “prey pathway” initial phase of domestication in multiple localities during the Eneolithic, which was based around local subsistence pastoralist niche construction. This took different forms due to the presence or absence of ruminant domestic stock in the Eastern European or Central Asian steppes, respectively. Whilst “push” factors likely played a part in the development of horse specialist pastoralism at Botai, it is suggested that “pull” factors accelerated the spread of DOM2 lineages, replacing others, in the later Bronze Age. The DOM2 spread was principally driven, not by local subsistence needs, but wider social, economic and military desirability of equestrianism. The long-term process of horse domestication continues in modernity with major breed changes caused first by the post-medieval agricultural revolution and, more currently, the desire for sporting achievement.

show abstract

Section: Challenges To Botai Domestication Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Challenges To Botai Domestication Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%