- - - ### p1002 the introduction of horses in North America led to new raid-based socio-economic dynamics > In early historic North America, where the horse was re-introduced by Spanish colonists after 1492 CE, the newfound availability of long-distance high-speed transport encouraged the emergence of new ethnic groups, including some with economies based on raiding, a transformation which had profound impacts on social and environmental dynamics in the Americas ###### Answered - My question, "I'm not sure I understand how an economy based on raiding works" got wrapped up into the [[Anthony V. Taylor on Early Pastoral Economies on the Eurasian Plains]] piece. ### p1002 the needs of different animals leads to differences in regional herding practices > but the species emphasized by particular herding groups within this ecogeographic zone - including sheep, goat, cattle, yak, camel, horse, and others - vary widely according to local environmental conditions and/or cultural choices. Eurasian domestic livestock species differ in terms of their food and water requirements. Some taxa, like cattle, require high daily water intake and grazing over a limited spatial range, while others, like horse, move frequently over larger ranges to meet their energetic and nutritional needs. These differences in animal ecology underlie differences in the prevalence of specific domestic taxa, the degree of residential mobility practiced, and the role of other subsistence inputs (like grains and agriculture) in regional economies. - [i] Added to: ### p1002 free range horse organization > In contemporary Mongolia, free-range horses largely organize themselves in line with their natural social structure, with a lead stallion and a harem of mares, geldings, and juveniles. ###### Q&A - [how exactly does it work to have geldings in a "natural" herd?](https://twitter.com/EleanorKonik/status/1396991191061835779). - It doesn't, the "largely" is meant to be fuzzy. ### p1002 Botai culture had bone tools > a horse-bone tool industry ### p1003 > findings raise questions about the early prehistory of domestic horse use and necessitate a reconsideration of the economic role of horses in ancient Central Asia The new research apparently means that [[The Horse The Wheel And Language by David Anthony]] has been obviated by new, updated genetic research. ### p1003 which came first, riding or cart/chariot pulling > While many scholars - especially those with experience on horseback - are intuitively attracted to the idea that riding preceded cart or chariot traction, Dietz argues compellingly on the basis of temperament, musculature, and behavior, that controlling early domestic horses as a chariot team would have been markedly easier than mounted riding. Need to find out what exactly this study says- it's not obvious to me how controlling two horses is easier than one? Even with the help of the cart... getting them to be "matched" seems hard? ### p1003 > Perhaps owing to the greater efficacy chariots provided in control over early domestic horses IS this settled or just a theory? Because I still don't understand & remain convinced by Anthony and wonder what his point of view on this new research is. ### p1007 > the emphasis on a single taxon, here as well as at Biluut, suggests these are domestic animals. The idea is that pastoral herders mostly eat meat of a single type as opposed to hunting whatever they can get their hands on but this seems silly what if they were just very specialized hunters or capable of large scale hunting like the builders of the wall of Jericho. Its not like a pit trap would show up in the archaeological record. - [i] included in [[Anthony V. Taylor on Early Pastoral Economies on the Eurasian Plains]]. ### p1010 horses were used in rituals before they became a common part of the diet > The data from these three sites point to incipient pastoral cultures building sturdy occupational structures, and using horses in occasional ritual contexts - but not yet any evidence for a dietary role - mirroring patterns observed in more westerly areas of Central Asia This seems to be the central thesis. ### p1010 climate change led to a need for herding economies > The Early and Middle Bronze Age were particularly dry in many areas of central and western Mongolia after 3000 BCE, which may have driven down wild game abundance and made pastoral subsistence more attractive. With comparatively higher rainfall and seasonally productive food and water sources at high altitude, the high mountainous regions of Mongolia would have been the most stable and viable regions for pastoral herding - particularly if mobility was comparatively limited by the lack of mounted horseback riding. This is good evidence for my ongoing rant about climate change & how fault is not the point and ignoring it is unwise- historically speaking, climate Change is something we do survive as a species but leads inevitably to massive social change & its only wise to prepare sensibly and minimize loss of life as much as possible. See also: Little ice Age causing famine in Europe. the Goths being pushed up against the Romans, and of course climate theory of Syrian war. - [i] Added to: [[climate change requires action regardless of cause]] ### p1011 > The available data support the idea that the incorporation of horses into chariot technology prompted the initial integration of domestic horses into pastoral lifeways for many Bronze Age Central Asian herders, as implied by Kohl and others. Horses and their secondary products (as suggested through lipid analysis of milk in ceramics) were likely still used in ritual activity during the early second millennium BCE, but they declined in general visibility in archaeological assemblages during this time, and likely served a limited economic or dietary role. I'm confused about why horse numbers would decline? ### p1011 being able to control more horses led to eating more horse meat > Nonetheless, our data indicate that at the end of the second millennium BCE, some areas saw dietary exploitation of domestic horses to a previously unforeseen extent, and that all study regions saw a general trend towards higher frequencies of horse bones in zooarchaeological assemblages. Acknowledging that %NISP is an imperfect measure, we argue that this pattern - increased dietary reliance on horses at many locations across the Eurasian Steppe - reflects the ability to control larger herds of horses initiated by the innovation of mounted horseback riding. In some cases, the ability to control more horses appears to have prompted an increased dietary reliance on horses as a source of meat This seems like a key central thesis. ### p1013 > Supporting the multi-stage chronology for equine transport proposed by earlier influential scholars, but contra to Anthony and others, we propose that this revolutionary transition is best explained by a second millennium BCE innovation of mounted horseback riding from earlier use in traction. Mounted riding would have increased the utility of horses as a transport animal, thereby encouraging groups to maintain greater numbers of horses even in a subsistence framework that otherwise placed little emphasis on them. Although small numbers of horses may have been tied, hobbled, or corralled for use in chariot teams or secondary products, large herds cannot be easily tended without effective transportation. The ability to ride horses would have dramatically increased the range of viable economic uses for horses by human societies in Inner Asia - perhaps allowing horses to be managed in meaningful numbers on a free range for the first time. In Mongolia, this likely bolstered the value of horses as a source of meat and dairy products, and enabled herders to effectively utilize the dry low-elevation areas of the Eastern Steppe for the first time. Although pastoralism was apparently practiced in Mongolia from ca. 3000 BCE, it appears that only after the innovation of mounted riding, associated changes to the ecological parameters of pastoralism, and the fluorescence of horse-based nomadic culture in Mongolia were hunting and gathering displaced as the dominant economic strategy in some northern regions. Innovations in horse transport - first the chariot, followed by mounted horseback riding - may have stimulated widespread transformations in Bronze Age pastoral economies, and help explain large scale population dispersals between east and west across Eurasia. It's not clear to me which parts exactly are contrato Anthony other than the "chariot first" thing but I don't understand how this evidence actually proves that... This study seems unrelated except insofar as the author is taking the time to say who they agree with.