The Earliest Horse Harnessing and Milking
Abstract
Horse domestication revolutionized transport, communications, and warfare in prehistory, yet the identification of early domestication processes has been problematic. Here, we present three independent lines of evidence demonstrating domestication in the Eneolithic Botai Culture of Kazakhstan, dating to about 3500 B.C.E. Metrical analysis of horse metacarpals shows that Botai horses resemble Bronze Age domestic horses rather than Paleolithic wild horses from the same region. Pathological characteristics indicate that some Botai horses were bridled, perhaps ridden. Organic residue analysis, using δ13C and δD values of fatty acids, reveals processing of mare's milk and carcass products in ceramics, indicating a developed domestic economy encompassing secondary products.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Supplementary Material
File (outram.som.pdf)
- Download
- 117.11 KB
References and Notes
1
D. W. Anthony, The Horse, the Wheel, and Language (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2007).
2
J. P. Mallory, In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth (Thames and Hudson, London, 1996).
3
S. Piggott, Wagon, Chariot and Carriage (Thames & Hudson, London, 1992).
4
T. Jansenet al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.99, 10905 (2002).
5
C. Vilàet al., Science291, 474 (2001).
6
S. L. Olsen, in Horses and Humans: The Evolution of Human-Equine Relationships, S. L. Olsen, S. Grant, A. M. Choyke, L. Bartosiewicz, Eds. (Archaeopress, Oxford, 2006), pp. 81–113.
7
S. L. Olsen, in Documenting Domestication, M. A. Zeder, D. G. Bradley, E. Emshwiller, B. D. Smith, Eds. (Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 2006), pp. 245–269.
8
M. Levine, in Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe, M. Levine, Y. Rassamakin, A. Kislenko, N. Tatarintseva, Eds. (McDonald Institute, Cambridge, 1999), pp. 5–58.
9
S. Olsen, B. Bradley, D. Maki, A. Outram, in Beyond the Steppe and the Sown, D. L. Peterson, L. M. Popova, A. T. Smith, Eds. (Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, 2006), pp. 89–111.
10
M. Levine, in Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse, M. Levine, C. Renfrew, K. Boyle, Eds. (McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research, Cambridge, 2003), pp. 1–7.
11
V. F. Zaibert, A. Tyulevaev, A. V. Zadorozhnyj, U. Kulakov, Tajny Drevnyej Stepi: Issledovaniya Poseleniya Botaj (2004-2006) (Kokshetauskogo Universiteta, Kokshetau, Kazakhstan, 2007).
12
S. S. Kalieva, V. N. Logvin, Skotovody Turgaya v Tret'em Tysyacheletii do Nashej Ehry (Kustanajckij Gosudarstvennyj Universitet, Kustanaj, Kazakhstan, 1997).
13
V. V. Yevdokimov, V. V. Varfolomeev, Ehpoxa Bronzy Central'nogo i Cevernogo Kazaxstana (Karagandinskij Gosudarstvennyj Universitet, Karaganda, Kazakhstan, 2002).
14
V. Eisenmann, in Equids in the Ancient World, R. H. Meadow, H.-P. Uerpmann, Eds. (Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, Germany, 1986), pp. 67–116.
15
A. S. Gilbert, in Equids in the Ancient World, Volume II, R. H. Meadow, H.-P. Uerpmann, Eds. (Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, Germany, 1991), pp. 75–122.
16
I. V. Foronova, in Equids in Time and Space, M. Mashkour, Ed. (Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2006,) pp. 20–30.
17
I. E. Grebnev, S. K. Vasil'ev, in Steregushchie Zoloto Grify (Ak-Alakhinskie Kurgany), N. V. Polos'mak, Ed. (Nauka, Novosibirsk, Russia, 1994), pp. 106–111.
18
R. Bendrey, J. Archaeol. Sci.34, 1036 (2007).
19
D. G. Bennett, in Equine Dentistry, G. J. Baker, J. Easley, Eds. (Elsevier Saunders, London, 2005), pp. 9–22.
20
R. P. Evershedet al., Acc. Chem. Res.35, 660 (2002).
21
S. N. Dudd, R. P. Evershed, Science282, 1478 (1998).
22
M. S. Copleyet al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.100, 1524 (2003).
23
R. P. Evershedet al., Nature455, 528 (2008).
24
K. Rozanski, L. Araguas-Araguas, R. Gonfiantini, in Climate Change in Continental Records, P. K. Swart, K. C. Lohmann, J. McKenzie, S. Savin, Eds. (American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 1993), pp. 1–36.
25
K. A. Hobson, L. Atwell, L. I. Wassenar, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.96, 8003 (1999).
26
C. V. Kremenetski, P. E. Tarasov, A. E. Cherkinsky, Quat. Int.41-42, 125 (1997).
27
P. E. Tarasov, D. Jolly, J. O. Kaplan, Palaeogeog. Palaeocl.136, 281 (1997).
28
Thanks to E. Usmanova, V. Varfolomeev, V. Loman, V. Logvin, S. Kalieva, L. Gayduchenko, D. Chivall, R. Berstan, B. Bradley, S. Babich, and E. Isayev. We are grateful for the following grants: Natural Environment Research Council grant NE/B504506/1, British Academy grant SG-35540, and NSF grants BS9816476 and BCS0415441.
(0)eLetters
eLetters is a forum for ongoing peer review. eLetters are not edited, proofread, or indexed, but they are screened. eLetters should provide substantive and scholarly commentary on the article. Embedded figures cannot be submitted, and we discourage the use of figures within eLetters in general. If a figure is essential, please include a link to the figure within the text of the eLetter. Please read our Terms of Service before submitting an eLetter.
Log In to Submit a ResponseNo eLetters have been published for this article yet.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Science
Volume 323 | Issue 5919
6 March 2009
6 March 2009
Copyright
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 17 November 2008
Accepted: 14 January 2009
Published in print: 6 March 2009
Notes
Supporting Online Material
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/323/5919/1332/DC1
SOM Text
Table S1
References
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Article Usage
Altmetrics
Citations
Cite as
- Alan K. Outram et al.
Export citation
Select the format you want to export the citation of this publication.
Cited by
- First bioanthropological evidence for Yamnaya horsemanship, Science Advances, 9, 9, (2023)./doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade2451
- The first horse herders and the impact of early Bronze Age steppe expansions into Asia, Science, 360, 6396, (2021)./doi/10.1126/science.aar7711
- Ancient genomes revisit the ancestry of domestic and Przewalski’s horses, Science, 360, 6384, (111-114), (2021)./doi/10.1126/science.aao3297
- It's a Bull's Market, Science, 324, 5926, (478-479), (2021)./doi/10.1126/science.1173880
- Ancient DNA shows domestic horses were introduced in the southern Caucasus and Anatolia during the Bronze Age, Science Advances, 6, 38, (2020)./doi/10.1126/sciadv.abb0030
- Late Quaternary horses in Eurasia in the face of climate and vegetation change, Science Advances, 4, 7, (2018)./doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar5589
- Decline of genetic diversity in ancient domestic stallions in Europe, Science Advances, 4, 4, (2018)./doi/10.1126/sciadv.aap9691
- Ancient genomic changes associated with domestication of the horse, Science, 356, 6336, (442-445), (2017)./doi/10.1126/science.aam5298
- Coat Color Variation at the Beginning of Horse Domestication, Science, 324, 5926, (485-485), (2009)./doi/10.1126/science.1172750
Loading...
View Options
Check Access
Log in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS Members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
- Become a AAAS Member
- Activate your AAAS ID
- Purchase Access to Other Journals in the Science Family
- Account Help
Log in via OpenAthens.
Log in via Shibboleth.
More options
Register for free to read this article
As a service to the community, this article is available for free. Login or register for free to read this article.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.