First bioanthropological evidence for Yamnaya horsemanship

Trautmann, Martin; Frînculeasa, Alin; Preda-Bălănică, Bianca; Petruneac, Marta; Focşǎneanu, Marin; Alexandrov, Stefan; Atanassova, Nadezhda; Włodarczak, Piotr; Podsiadło, Michał; Dani, János; Bereczki, Zsolt; Hajdu, Tamás; Băjenaru, Radu; Ioniță, Adrian; Măgureanu, Andrei; Măgureanu, Despina; Popescu, Adina; Sârbu, Dorin; Vasile, Gabriel; Anthony, David W.; Heyd, Volker

doi:10.1126/sciadv.ade2451

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…These findings thus support the "horse before the cart" view and an early emergence of horseback riding (e.g., Levine, 1999;2005;Olsen, 2006a;Anthony, 2007) more than the "cart before the horse" view with riding emerging later (e.g., Dietz, 2003;Drews, 2004;Taylor et al, 2020;. A bioanthropological study by Trautmann et al (2023) provides additional strong support for the "horse before the cart" view by finding diagnostic traits associated with habitual horseback riding in human skeletons that considerably predate the earliest wheeled vehicles pulled by horses, which are dated to the late 3 rd millennium BC (Chechushkov and Epimakhov, 2018;Lindner, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Horses are much faster and more excitable than cattle (Robinson, 2001: 17), so that herders on foot cannot cope even if helped by dogs (Azzaroli, 1985: 6;1998: 41). As already mentioned, some horseback riding was apparently already taking place during the Copper Age and was unquestionably practiced during the Yamnaya period (Trautmann et al, 2023).…”

Section: The Emergence Of Dom2 Horses On the Pontic-caspian Steppementioning

confidence: 94%

“…Supporters of the "cart before horse" view argued that riding before the introduction of chariots at most involved hitching rides on the backs of packhorses or recreational riding by "daredevils" and "show-offs" (Drews, 2004: 42-44, 44-47, 47-50 in E-book;Taylor et al, 2020. This view conflicts with very recently reported diagnostic traits associated with habitual riding in pre-Yamnaya and Yamnaya individuals (Trautmann et al, 2023).…”

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

confidence: 95%

“…It is indeed possible that these "Suvorovos" rode horses. A human male skeleton from Csongrád-Kettőshalom, Hungary, dated to 4442-4243 BC, exhibits skeletal evidence of habitual riding (Trautmann et al, 2023). Suvorovo migrants from the lower Danube region arrived in this area towards the end of the Tiszapolgár culture of the Early Copper Age (Anthony, 2007: 255).…”

Section: From Hunted Wild Horses To a "Cult Of The Horse"mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence for this domestic status is now stronger. Some horses preceding DOM2 horses must have already been ridden in this region during the Early Copper Age, based on diagnostic traits associated with riding in a human male individual from Csongrád dated to 4442-4243 BC (Trautmann et al, 2023).…”

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

confidence: 99%

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The prehistoric origins of the domestic horse and horseback riding

Niskanen¹

2023

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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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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: The Emergence Of Dom2 Horses On the Pontic-caspian Steppementioning

confidence: 94%

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

confidence: 95%

Section: From Hunted Wild Horses To a "Cult Of The Horse"mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

confidence: 99%

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The prehistoric origins of the domestic horse and horseback riding

Niskanen¹

2023

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Bronze age horsemen: An evaluation of pathological and nonpathological changes for indicators of “horsemanship syndrome” of the Strzyżów culture population, Poland, 2000–1600 BC

Hyrchała,

Lorkiewicz‐Muszyńska

2024

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Numerous pathological and nonpathological changes examined on human bones are classified and related to various types of physical activities practiced during life. Some activities in ancient populations can be reconstructed based on studies of specific patterns and types of skeletal changes. Recently, particular attention has been paid to evaluate diagnostic traits that are commonly interpreted as “horsemanship syndrome.” In the present study, as of the time of writing, 100 skeletons from 23 archaeological sites of the Strzyżów culture in south‐eastern Poland have been cataloged and analyzed. Preliminary analysis showed that 31 individuals were of subadult age and 46 adult skeletons were poorly preserved. In further research, authors focused on pathological and nonpathological changes in bone morphology associated with horseback riding among the remaining 23 adult individuals. Diagnostic traits including pelvic and lower limbs entheses, acetabular shape (vertical ovalisation), femoroacetabular morphological changes, subtrochanteric shape (platymeria), and specific vertebral degeneration and specific trauma lesions were analyzed related to biomechanical stress from frequent horseback riding. An evaluation gave results with high level of diagnostic certainty for four individuals and included two males, one female, and one individual whose sex could not be clearly determined due to the fragmented and incomplete preservation of the skull and pelvis. Lower probability was received in the next three cases included one male, one female, and one probably female. This study revealed that a proportion of the Strzyżów culture population developed skeletal changes compatible with riding horses.

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