New Evidence of Horse Domestication

Evidence supporting the current theory of horse domestication as having occurred in Kazakhstan between about 5,000-5,500 years ago was reported on March 6, 2009, in the journal Science. Horse domestication is believed to have developed about 3,500 BC by the Botai culture—a Chalcolithic community of pastoralists living in what is now Kazakhstan and (perhaps) Ukraine. Evidence in the form of bitwear on teeth was reported back in the late 1990s from sites such as Krasni Yar and Botai. This new paper by Alan Outram and colleagues adds two more forms of support to the argument.

A mare being milked in a traditional village in northern Kazakhstan. Image courtesy of Alan K. Outram

In addition to describing the presence of bitwear—meaning recognizably patterned damage to horse's teeth resulting from the metal bits of a bridle riding inside a horse's cheek and banging on the teeth— the paper uses the relative gracility of domestic horse shin bones, and the presence of horse milk fat lipids on the insides of ceramic pots to support arguments about horse domestication. Together, these bits of data suggest that horses were bridled and perhaps ridden, as well as eaten as meat and milked during at least a portion of the year, at Botai culture sites, beginning as early as 3500 BC.

• Horse History and Domestication, including what scholars have learned about horses, and more details on this specific project
• Outram, Alan K., et al. 2009 The Earliest Horse Harnessing and Milking. Science 323:1332-1335.
• Krasni Yar, a Botai culture site in Kazakhstan
• Table of Animal Domestications, which includes horses and several other animals we've grown to love and use

I've not written about lipids discovered as residues on the insides of pots before. In brief, degraded animal fats are occasionally found on the insides of ceramic vessels. They can be identified as to which animal—after all, goats, cows and sheep all give milk—by comparing the isotope values of the n-alkanoic acids, like palmitic and stearic acids. Lipids have been used to investigate dairying in antiquity, most importantly in three papers in the Journal of Archaeological Science back in 2005 by a group led by Richard P. Evershed, who also had a hand in this Science article. More later on this fascinating subject.

Plant Residues in Archaeology will give you some idea of the potential.

Added March 8: Dr. Outram tells me that the lipids weren't found as residues, but rather found absorbed within the fabric of the pottery walls themselves, which allows for better preservation. Isn't that interesting?