New research suggests that horse riding may have emerged earlier than generally thought.
Scientists have discovered new facts about the use of horses
in the Bronze Age. A team of scientists, from Khazakhstan, Russia and the US, showed
that people of the Andronova culture mastered horse riding several centuries
earlier than is commonly believed.
The researchers came to this conclusion when working with the
remains of two Late Bronze Age horses from Kurgan (burial mound) no 5 of the
Novoil’inovskiy 2 Cemetery, near the city of Lisakovsk in the Republic
of Kazakhstan.
They discovered that changes on the horses’ skulls that were
consistent with having been bridled. Remnants of bridles were found near the
horses, including cheekpieces that showed wear that could have been caused by
use with soft bits.
The scientists conclude that the bone pathologies and the wear
on the cheekpieces were most consistent with the horses being used for riding
or chariotry.
Igor Chechushkov, of the South Ural State University (SUSU) took
part in the laboratory and analytical part of the study. He analysed the
burials, and radiocarbon dating information from the horse bones and artifacts
removed from the site.
"We received radiocarbon dates that made it possible to
date the complex with an accuracy of several decades. A comparison of these
dates with the known ones allowed us to conclude that horsemanship, that is,
the use of horses in military affairs, began to be practiced much earlier than
many researchers had previously expected.”
It had been thought that horsemanship evolved around 900 BC.
But Chechushkov points out “Our materials suggest that armed horsemen who
fought on horseback could have appeared in the Eurasian steppes no later than
1600 BC.”
For more details, see:
Early evidence for horse utilization in the Eurasian steppes
and the case of the Novoil’inovskiy 2 Cemetery in Kazakhstan
Igor V.Chechushkov, Emma R.Usmanova, Pavel A.Kosintsev
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Volume 32, August
2020, 102420
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102420
See also:
On the Earliest Use of Plate-Formed Cheekpieces and the
Emergence of Horse Riding (Based on Finds from the Novoilyinovskiy II Cemetery
in Northern Kazakhstan)
I.V. Chechushkov, A. A. Ovsyannikov, E. R. Usmanova
Archaeology, ethnology & anthropology of Eurasia (2020) Vol
48, No 2
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