Recent findings suggest that domestication of horses occurred 5500 years ago, 1000 years earlier than previously thought. A site from the Krasnyi Yar in Kazakhstan, home of the Botai culture, yielded equine jawbones that show evidence of bit use, and pottery fragments with remnants of horse meat and milk.
These findings are causing scientists to reconsider theories regarding the spread of civilization. Horse domestication enables trade and military prowess, and speeds idea exchange. Horses carried civilization as well as destruction through history. Moving their timeline back 1000 years opens doors in currently held suppositions.
Read yesterday’s BBC announcement here:Â Horses Tamed Earlier Than Thought
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History reveals more about the Botai horse culture here.