Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2200 Bce in Eurasia

Pablo Librado; Gaetan Tressieres; Lorelei Chauvey; Antoine Fages; Naveed Khan; Stephanie Schiavinato; L. Calviere-Tonasso; Mariya Kusliy; Charleen Gaunitz; Xuexue Liu; Stefanie Wagner; Clio Der Sarkissian; Andaine Seguin-Orlando; Aude Perdereau; Jean-Marc Aury; John Southon; B. Shapiro; Olivier Bouchez; Cecile Donnadieu; Y. Collin; Kristian Murphy Gregersen; Mads Dengso Jessen; Kirsten Christensen; Lone Claudi-Hansen; Melanie Pruvost; Erich Pucher; Hrvoje Vulic; Mario Novak; Andrea Rimpf; Peter Turk; Simone B. C. F. Reiter; Gottfired Brem; Christoph Schwall; Eric Barrey; Celine Robert; Christophe Degueurce; Liora Kolska Horwitz; Lutz Klassen; Uffe Rasmussen; Jacob Kveiborg; Niels N. Johannsen; Daniel Makowiecki; Przemyslaw Makarowicz

doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07597-5

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Title (eng)

Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2200 Bce in Eurasia

Author

Pablo Librado

Gaetan Tressieres

Lorelei Chauvey

Antoine Fages

Naveed Khan

Stephanie Schiavinato

L. Calviere-Tonasso

Mariya Kusliy

Charleen Gaunitz

Xuexue Liu

Stefanie Wagner

Clio Der Sarkissian

Andaine Seguin-Orlando

Aude Perdereau

Jean-Marc Aury

John Southon

B. Shapiro

Olivier Bouchez

Cecile Donnadieu

Y. Collin

Kristian Murphy Gregersen

Mads Dengso Jessen

Kirsten Christensen

Lone Claudi-Hansen

Melanie Pruvost

Erich Pucher

Hrvoje Vulic

Mario Novak

Andrea Rimpf

Peter Turk

Simone B. C. F. Reiter

University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna

Gottfired Brem

University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna

Christoph Schwall

Eric Barrey

Celine Robert

Christophe Degueurce

Liora Kolska Horwitz

Lutz Klassen

Uffe Rasmussen

Jacob Kveiborg

Niels N. Johannsen

Daniel Makowiecki

Przemyslaw Makarowicz

Abstract (eng)

Horses revolutionized human history with fast mobility. However, the timeline between their domestication and their widespread integration as a means of transport remains contentious. Here we assemble a collection of 475 ancient horse genomes to assess the period when these animals were first reshaped by human agency in Eurasia. We find that reproductive control of the modern domestic lineage emerged around 2200 bce, through close-kin mating and shortened generation times. Reproductive control emerged following a severe domestication bottleneck starting no earlier than approximately 2700 bce, and coincided with a sudden expansion across Eurasia that ultimately resulted in the replacement of nearly every local horse lineage. This expansion marked the rise of widespread horse-based mobility in human history, which refutes the commonly held narrative of large horse herds accompanying the massive migration of steppe peoples across Europe around 3000 bce and earlier. Finally, we detect significantly shortened generation times at Botai around 3500 bce, a settlement from central Asia associated with corrals and a subsistence economy centred on horses. This supports local horse husbandry before the rise of modern domestic bloodlines.

Keywords (eng)

ArchaeologyEvolutionary GeneticsPopulation Genetics

Type (eng)

journal article

Language

[eng]

Persistent identifier

https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:4445

DOI

10.1038/s41586-024-07597-5

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Title (eng)