Riding, Ruling, and Resistance

Kanne, Katherine

doi:10.1086/720271

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…There is considerable ongoing debate (see Kanne, 2022) over whether the spread of DOM2 horses was associated purely with their use with chariots (e.g., Taylor et al, 2020) or whether riding was a regular component of non-elite as well as elite peoples in the early Bronze Age (Kanne, 2022). It is important to note that the genetic selections apparently related to improved use for equestrianism commence prior to any evidence for chariotry (Librado et al, 2021), and arguably the GSDMC selection is perhaps more pertinent to weight bearing on the back than traction.…”

Section: Local Subsistence Pastoralismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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.

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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.

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Section: Local Subsistence Pastoralismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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.

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“…These Hungarian Early Bronze Age non-DOM2 horses preceding DOM2 horses and partly contemporary with them are "suspected to have been domesticated" (Kanne, 2022). Evidence for this domestic status is now stronger.…”

Section: The Dispersal Of Dom2 Horses From the Pontic-caspian Steppementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because chariots were prestige items (e.g., Chechushkov and Epimakhov, 2018;Kristiansen, 2018;Maran, 2020;Metzner-Nebelsick, 2021), only high-status individuals were charioteers even in charioteering societies (Chechushkov and Epimakhov, 2018). The practical utility of chariotry is doubted by many (e.g., Barclay, 1982: Littauer andCrouwel, 1996;Levine, 1999;2005;Chechushkov and Epimakhov, 2018;Maran, 2020;Metzner-Nebelsick, 2021;Kanne, 2022), but Taylor et al ( : 1491 suggest "…an expanded practical role for chariots in early pastoral lifeways of the eastern Eurasian Steppe…"…”

Section: The Dispersal Of Dom2 Horses From the Pontic-caspian Steppementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the dispersal of the chariot complex during the first half of the 2 nd millennium BC was concurrent with the transformation of the Eurasian Bronze Age societies (Kristiansen, 2018), the role and importance of chariotry may have become inflated due to its strong association with high status. The practical utility of chariots is also questionable (e.g., Barclay, 1982: Littauer andCrouwel, 1996;Levine, 1999;2005;Chechushkov and Epimakhov, 2018;Kristiansen, 2018;Maran, 2020;Metzner-Nebelsick, 2021;Kanne, 2022).…”

Section: Chariotry and Other Forms Of Tractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Morphology is of limited use for differentiating wild from domestic horses, with the obvious exception of pathologies resulting from riding and driving (Olsen, 2006b). Domestication of horses may also have started in more than one area, for example on the Kazakh steppe (Outram et al, 2009; and in the Carpathian Basin (Kanne, 2022), although the stage of full domestication, resulting in the DOM2 horse, was reached only on the Pontic-Caspian steppe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The prehistoric origins of the domestic horse and horseback riding

Niskanen¹

2023

bmsap

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Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d' Anthropologie de ParisCet article fait suite à une communication invitée présentée lors des 1847 es journées de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris dans le cadre de la session "Les relations entre les humains et les animaux"Abstract -The findings of Librado et al. (2021) show that modern domestic horses (DOM2) emerged in the lower Don-Volga region. They imply that horseback riding drove selection that resulted in these horses and fuelled their initial dispersal, and also that DOM2 horses replaced other horses because they were more suitable for riding due to their more docile temperaments and resilient backs. In this article, I argue that captive breeding of horses leading to their domestication began in about 4500-3000 BC in the Pontic-Caspian steppe and made horseback riding necessary because managing horses, and especially moving them over long distances, required mounted herding. Horseback riding had been experimented with since the second half of the 5 th millennium BC, became common around 3100 BC during the early stages of the Yamnaya culture, and necessary by the middle of the 3 rd millennium BC at the very latest. As horseback riding became more common, selection for malleable temperaments and resilient backs intensified, resulting in DOM2 horses by about 2300-2200 BC in the lower Don-Volga region. The body size and weight-carrying ability of ancestral and early DOM2 horses were not limiting factors for horseback riding. The initial dispersal of DOM2 horses was facilitated by horseback riding and began by about 2300 +150 BC. Chariotry began to spread together with DOM2 horses after 2000 BC, but its high archaeological visibility may have inflated its importance, since chariots are of limited practical use for herding and other daily tasks.

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On Humanity and Equids: Ecologies, Trajectories, and Relationships

Bendrey

Oakes

2023

Fascinating Life Sciences

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Riding, Ruling, and Resistance

Cited by 14 publications

References 127 publications

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

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

The prehistoric origins of the domestic horse and horseback riding

On Humanity and Equids: Ecologies, Trajectories, and Relationships

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