Horses may have been the first ‘vehicles’ used by humans to travel faster and farther, but when exactly did they start riding horses? found archaeological evidence that horse riding began about 5,000 years ago.
The bond between humans and horses has remained strong for thousands of years, but the evidence as to when it began is still incomplete. It dates back to around 2000 BC after it was found buried in a horse-drawn carriage. Other studies have found that horses lived alongside humans in Kazakhstan as early as 3500 BC. That might mean they were on board, but it’s not clear.
In a new study, Helsinki researchers looked at the other side of the equation: the physical effects on human riders. The team examined his 156 adult skeletons, collected from his 39 burial sites in the Eurasian steppes, looking for six specific features in her bones caused by long hours of horse riding. rice field.
They looked at the muscle attachment sites of the pelvic and thigh bones. changes in the shape of the hip socket; pressure imprints on the femur; diameter and shape of the femur; degeneration of the vertebrae due to increased impact; Trauma induced. The value, characteristics, and reliability of each symptom were considered to create a scoring system for whether each person was likely to ride horses regularly.
Michal Poziadwo
“Diagnosing activity patterns in the human skeleton is not clear-cut,” said Martin Trautmann, lead author of the study. “There is no single characteristic that indicates a particular occupation or behavior. Together, as syndromes alone, symptoms provide reliable insight into understanding past habitual activity.”
Of the 156 skeletons surveyed, at least 24 were classified as “rider candidates” based on this system. A further nine fit the bill as “probable riders,” the team said.
Five of the most likely riders, and most of the available riders, belonged to the nomadic Yamnaya culture of present-day Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. All of the sites date back to between 3000 and 2500 BC, making them some of the oldest evidence of human riding ever discovered. And one skeleton in particular could delay the date much sooner than we thought.
“A tomb dating from around 4300 BC in Chonggrad Ketshalom, Hungary, long suspected to be a steppe immigrant because of its pose and artifacts, surprisingly shows four out of six equestrian conditions. “It shows that they were riding horses, probably 1,000 years before Yamnaya.” Senior co-author of the study David Anthony said: “Although no firm conclusions can be drawn in isolated cases…clearly, the method should be applied to even older collections.”
A study was published in a journal scientific progress.
Source: University of Helsinki
