Horse Domestication

During the Early Bronze Age, populations of the western Eurasian steppe expanded across an immense area of northern Eurasia. Combined archaeological and genetic evidence supports widespread Early Bronze Age population movements out of the Pontic–Caspian steppe that resulted in gene flow across vast distances, linking populations of Yamnaya pastoralists in Scandinavia with pastoral populations (known as the Afanasievo) far to the east in the Altai Mountains1,2 and Mongolia3. Although some models hold that this expansion was the outcome of a newly mobile pastoral economy characterized by horse traction, bulk wagon transport4–6 and regular dietary dependence on meat and milk5, hard evidence for these economic features has not been found. Here we draw on proteomic analysis of dental calculus from individuals from the western Eurasian steppe to demonstrate a major transition in dairying at the start of the Bronze Age. The rapid onset of ubiquitous dairying at a point in time when steppe ...

La domestication du cheval a bouleverse les modes de communication, d’echanges et de transports. Durant le haut Moyen Âge, plusieurs formes equines se cotoient : le cheval, l’âne et leurs hybrides. L’âne est peu represente au sein des assemblages osseux pour la periode merovingienne. Le cheval, quant a lui, voit sa proportion augmenter de maniere constante des la fin de l’Antiquite. Cet accroissement traduit tres probablement un besoin accru en force de travail pour les labours, le transport (marchandises et hommes) et les activites militaires. Le cheval merovingien est un animal de grande taille pour cette epoque et presente une ossature gracile. La monte excessive de ce dernier par l’homme se traduit par la presence de pathologies equines principalement liees a l’usage du mors et de la selle. L’equipement equestre influe egalement sur le corps du cavalier. De recentes etudes archeozoologiques et anthropologiques presentent ces lesions dentaires et osseuses susceptibles d’etre en lien avec la pratique de la monte.

Horse domestication revolutionized warfare and accelerated travel, trade, and the geographic expansion of languages. Here, we present the largest DNA time series for a non-human organism to date,including genome-scale data from 149 ancient animals and 129 ancient genomes (R1-fold coverage),87 of which are new. This extensive dataset allows us to assess the modern legacy of past equestrian civilizations. We find that two extinct horse lineages existed during early domestication, one at the far western (Iberia) and the other at the far eastern range(Siberia) of Eurasia. None of these contributed significantly to modern diversity. We show that the influence of Persian-related horse lineages increased following the Islamic conquests in Europe and Asia.Multiple alleles associated with elite-racing, including at the MSTN ‘‘speed gene,’’ only rose in popularity within the last millennium. Finally, the development of modern breeding impacted genetic diversity more dramatically than the previous millennia of human management

Horse domestication revolutionized warfare and accelerated travel, trade, and the geographic expansion of languages. Here, we present the largest DNA time series for a non-human organism to date,including genome-scale data from 149 ancient animals and 129 ancient genomes (R1-fold coverage),87 of which are new. This extensive dataset allows us to assess the modern legacy of past equestrian civilizations. We find that two extinct horse lineages existed during early domestication, one at the far western (Iberia) and the other at the far eastern range(Siberia) of Eurasia. None of these contributed significantly to modern diversity. We show that the influence of Persian-related horse lineages increased following the Islamic conquests in Europe and Asia.Multiple alleles associated with elite-racing, including at the MSTN ‘‘speed gene,’’ only rose in popularity within the last millennium. Finally, the development of modern breeding impacted genetic diversity more dramatically than the previous millennia of human management

Horse domestication revolutionized warfare and accelerated travel, trade, and the geographic expan- sion of languages. Here, we present the largest DNA time series for a non-human organism to date, including genome-scale data from 149 ancient ani- mals and 129 ancient genomes (R1-fold coverage), 87 of which are new. This extensive dataset allows us to assess the modern legacy of past equestrian civilizations. We find that two extinct horse lineages existed during early domestication, one at the far western (Iberia) and the other at the far eastern range (Siberia) of Eurasia. None of these contributed signif- icantly to modern diversity. We show that the influence of Persian-related horse lineages increased following the Islamic conquests in Europe and Asia. Multiple alleles associated with elite-racing, including at the MSTN ‘‘speed gene,’’ only rose in popularity within the last millennium. Finally, the development of modern breeding impacted genetic diversity more dramatically tha...