Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai

Abstract Despite its transformative impact on human history, the early domestication of the horse (Equus caballus) remains exceedingly difficult to trace in the archaeological record. In recent years, a scientific consensus emerged linking the Botai culture of northern Kazakhstan with the first dome...

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Autores principales:	William Timothy Treal Taylor, Christina Isabelle Barrón-Ortiz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/10ec384de37749a5b866a94f13524a34
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:10ec384de37749a5b866a94f13524a342021-12-02T14:25:09ZRethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai10.1038/s41598-021-86832-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/10ec384de37749a5b866a94f13524a342021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86832-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Despite its transformative impact on human history, the early domestication of the horse (Equus caballus) remains exceedingly difficult to trace in the archaeological record. In recent years, a scientific consensus emerged linking the Botai culture of northern Kazakhstan with the first domestication of horses, based on compelling but largely indirect archaeological evidence. A cornerstone of the archaeological case for domestication at Botai is damage to the dentition commonly linked with the use of bridle mouthpieces, or “bit wear.” Recent archaeogenetic analyses reveal, however, that horse remains from Botai are not modern domesticates but instead the Przewalski’s horse, E. przewalskii—warranting reevaluation of evidence for domestication. Here, we compare osteological traits hypothesized to have been caused by horse transport at Botai with wild Pleistocene equids in North America. Our results suggest that damage observed in Botai horse teeth is likely generated by natural disturbances in dental development and wear, rather than through contact with bridle equipment. In light of a careful reconsideration of the mid-Holocene archaeological record of northern Eurasia, we suggest that archaeological materials from Botai are most effectively explained through the regularized mass harvesting of wild Przewalski’s’ horses—meaning that the origins of horse domestication may lie elsewhere.William Timothy Treal TaylorChristina Isabelle Barrón-OrtizNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q William Timothy Treal Taylor Christina Isabelle Barrón-Ortiz Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai
description	Abstract Despite its transformative impact on human history, the early domestication of the horse (Equus caballus) remains exceedingly difficult to trace in the archaeological record. In recent years, a scientific consensus emerged linking the Botai culture of northern Kazakhstan with the first domestication of horses, based on compelling but largely indirect archaeological evidence. A cornerstone of the archaeological case for domestication at Botai is damage to the dentition commonly linked with the use of bridle mouthpieces, or “bit wear.” Recent archaeogenetic analyses reveal, however, that horse remains from Botai are not modern domesticates but instead the Przewalski’s horse, E. przewalskii—warranting reevaluation of evidence for domestication. Here, we compare osteological traits hypothesized to have been caused by horse transport at Botai with wild Pleistocene equids in North America. Our results suggest that damage observed in Botai horse teeth is likely generated by natural disturbances in dental development and wear, rather than through contact with bridle equipment. In light of a careful reconsideration of the mid-Holocene archaeological record of northern Eurasia, we suggest that archaeological materials from Botai are most effectively explained through the regularized mass harvesting of wild Przewalski’s’ horses—meaning that the origins of horse domestication may lie elsewhere.
format	article
author	William Timothy Treal Taylor Christina Isabelle Barrón-Ortiz
author_facet	William Timothy Treal Taylor Christina Isabelle Barrón-Ortiz
author_sort	William Timothy Treal Taylor
title	Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai
title_short	Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai
title_full	Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai
title_fullStr	Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai
title_full_unstemmed	Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai
title_sort	rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at botai
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/10ec384de37749a5b866a94f13524a34
work_keys_str_mv	AT williamtimothytrealtaylor rethinkingtheevidenceforearlyhorsedomesticationatbotai AT christinaisabellebarronortiz rethinkingtheevidenceforearlyhorsedomesticationatbotai
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Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai

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