ArticleScientific reports2021
Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Screening of Y-chromosomal STR loci and development of a multiplex PCR system for paternal lineage identification in horses.Equine veterinary journal · 2026Article
- Horse genetics, archaeology, and the beginning of riding.Science advances · 2026Review
- From Concept to Perception: Equestrian Definitions of Harmony and Visual Attention in Horse-Rider Evaluation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Uncovering Genetic Diversity and Adaptive Candidate Genes in the Mugalzhar Horse Breed Using Whole-Genome Sequencing Data.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Early transatlantic movement of horses and donkeys at Jamestown.Science advances · 2025Article
- Rewilded horses in European nature conservation - a genetics, ethics, and welfare perspective.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Article
- Tracing horseback riding and transport in the human skeleton.Science advances · 2024Review
- Article
- The Characteristics, Distribution, Function, and Origin of Alternative Lateral Horse Gaits.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Review
- First bioanthropological evidence for Yamnaya horsemanship.Science advances · 2023Article
- Article
- Emergence and intensification of dairying in the Caucasus and Eurasian steppes.Nature ecology & evolution · 2022Article
- DirectArchaeological and anthropological sciences · 2022Article
- Enhanced Understanding of Horse-Human Interactions to Optimize Welfare.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Review
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2 authors.
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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.
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