Fwd: [Indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE

[Guest guest]

---------- Forwarded message ----------Dan Lusthaus <vasubandhu

Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM[indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCEIndo-Eurasian_research

 

 

 

 

This should be of interest to some list members, and perhaps raise an eyebrow or two. An article in today's " Science " magazine claims proof for Horse domestication at 3500 BCE. Here's the abstract.

 

The Earliest Horse Harnessing and Milking

 

Alan K. Outram, Natalie A. Stear, Robin Bendrey, Sandra Olsen, Alexei Kasparov,

Victor Zaibert, Nick Thorpe, Richard P. Evershed

 

Horse domestication revolutionized transport, communications, and warfare in prehistory, yet the identification of early domestication processes has been problematic. Here, we present three independent lines of evidence demonstrating domestication in the Eneolithic Botai Culture of Kazakhstan, dating to about 3500 B.C.E. Metrical analysis of horse metacarpals shows that Botai horses resemble Bronze Age domestic horses rather than Paleolithic wild horses from the same region. Pathological characteristics indicate that some Botai horses were bridled, perhaps ridden. Organic residue analysis, using d13C and dD values of fatty acids, reveals processing of mare's milk and carcass products in ceramics, indicating a developed domestic economy encompassing secondary products.

 

" Science, " 6 March 2009, Vol 323, Issue 5919, pp. 1332-35.

Includes photos of molars showing wear from bits.

A pdf of the full piece is available if you have access.

 

The NYTimes has a piece covering this:

 

Earlier Date Suggested for Horse Domestication

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

Published: March 5, 2009

 

It is a long way from Kazakhstan to Kentucky, but the journey to the Derby may have started among a pastoral people on the Kazakh steppes who appear to have been the first to domesticate, bridle and perhaps ride horses - around 3500 B.C., a millennium earlier than previously thought.

 

Archaeologists say the discovery may revise thinking about the development of some preagricultural Eurasian societies and put an earlier date to their dispersal into Europe and elsewhere. These migrations are believed to have been associated with horse domestication and the spread of Indo-European languages.

 

See the rest at

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/science/06horses.html

 

Dan Lusthaus

 

 

[Guest guest]

This article goes against the " traditional " theory of " Indo-European " origins

that requires horse domestication much farther north and 3000 years earlie. The

Botai Kazhaks most like spoke a Finno-Ugric language. Some relevant quotations

follow:

 

 

M. Kelkar

 

" Although significantly altered from their original composition, comparison of

the isotopic and distributional data obtained for the samples from Botai with

data obtained for modern and prehistoric reference horse fats have confirmed the

archaeological residues all derive from horse meat and/or fat. The Eneolithic

pots thus functioned as vessels for the processing (e.g. cooking) of horse meat

or fat recovery from tissue or bones with chemical evidence that they reached

temperatures in excess of 300 degree C. The lack of chemical markers for leafy

vegetables is also notable, indicating that the vessels were not used for

cooking such products (Dudd, Evershed, and Levine, 2003, p. 52). "

 

Dudd, Stephanie N., Evershed, Richard P. and Marsha Levine (2003), " Organic

Residue Analysis of Lipids in Potsherds from the Early Neolithic Settlement of

Botai, Kazakhstan, " in Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse, pp. 45-53,

Marsha Levine, Colin Renfrew, and Kati Boyle (Eds.), pp. 45-53, Cambridge, UK:

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

 

" During the 1960's and the 70s Bibikova's zoological argument for horse

domestication at Dereivka (Bibikova 1967; 1969) was widely accepted, as was

Telegin's (1973, 1986) dating of the site. Bibikova's identification of the

domesticated horses at Dereivka was used by other archaeologists to support the

hypothesis that Indo-European-speakers on horseback migrated in several `waves'

from the Ukrainian steppes into eastern eastern and central Europe at the end of

the Eneolithic (Gimbutas 19970;1977; Bokonyi 1978). But the archaeological

evidence for domestication reported by Bibikova was not compelling under close

examination (Uerpmann 1990; Levine 1990; Anthony 1991). The hypothesis of

massive `Kurgan culture' invasions into Central Europe was discredited (Hauser

1981; 1985; 1986; Anthony 1986; Renfrew 1987; Whittle 1996, 140-43), (Anthony

and Brown 2003, pp. 56-57). "

 

Anthony David W. and Brown, Dorcas R. (2003), " Eneolithic Horse Rituals and

Riding in the Steppes: New Evidence, " in Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the

Horse, pp. 45-53, Marsha Levine, Colin Renfrew, and Kati Boyle (Eds.), pp.

55-68, Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

" Evidence is building to support the hypothesis that the Botai were equestrian

horse-hunters who maintained at least some herds for riding (Olsen 1996).

Equestrian hunting could have served as one of the primary motivations for

domesticating this species. If so the larger assemblage of slaughtered wild

individuals might swamp the numbers of domesticated horses , which once trained,

would be kept for many years (Olsen 2003, pp. 83-84). "

Olsen, Sandra L. (2003), " The Exploitation of Horses at Botai, Kazakhstan, " in

Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse, pp. 45-53, Marsha Levine, Colin

Renfrew, and Kati Boyle (Eds.), pp. 83-103, Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute

for Archaeological Research.

" The aim of this paper was to show the importance of the exploitation of equids

on the northern part of the Iranian Plateau. Regarding this problem, the Iron

Age upheavals in Iran are most commonly linked to the migration theories of

Indo-European peoples (e.g. Dyson 1973) and its inseparable component-the

domestic horse. In this respect, the increase in horse remains at Sagzabad is

noteworthy, but one must still remain extremely cautious about the integration

of such data in socio-cultural analyses, for many of these theories are based,

at least in the northern part of Iran and Central Asia and especially for the

faunal material, on old studies under debate (i.e. Levine et. al. 1999). A more

important fact is the new evidence for the presence of the wild horse (equus

ferus) as early as the Neolithic (Mashkour 2003, p. 136). "

" But at this point of the study, considering the restricted amount of data, it

is safer not to over-interpret the information. It should only be stressed that

a probably wild caballing equid was present in the northern part of Iran in the

Neolithic with the same or modified status in the Chalcolithic.

An interesting question to be posed, relevant to the socio-economic and

political setting of the studied sites would be: is this gradual diachronic

increase in horse (Equus caballus) percentages in the Qazvin Plain simultaneous

to the general increase of equids, all represented species considered, in the

faunal assemblages from the three site? Doe it, result from an internal

endogenous dynamic or was it the consequence of exogenous factors? (Mashkour

2003, p. 136). "

Mashkour, Marjan (2003), " Equids in the Northern Part of the Iranian Central

Plateau from the Neolithic to Iron Age: New Zoogeographic Evidence, " in

Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse, Marsha Levine, Colin Renfrew, and

Kati Boyle (Eds.), pp. 129-138, Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute for

Archaeological Research.

" How valid is the hypothesis concerning the formation of nomadism and horseback

riding in the steppes of the fourth millennium BC?

Undoubtedly, Eneolithic herdsmen had to control the herd and thus they might

ride a horse (a belt or rope halter is quite sufficient for that). But the

rider who shoots or fights with a spear needs a confident seat that requires, in

turn, bridles and cheek-pieces. Bone artifacts with one or two holes found at

Dereivka were interpreted by Telegin as the earliest known cheek-pieces. This

became the basis for the hypothesis of the early spread of riding in the steppes

of Eurasia which was accepted by many scientists.

In reality this hypothesis is based on a misunderstanding. In 1970 Kozhin

published an article in which he proposed that horn objects with holes, found at

Siberian Afansevo culture sites, which resemble Scynthian cheek-pieces to some

extent, also served for horseback riding. This proposition was rejected by

Gryaznov (see 1997, 57, figs. 32, 34, & 35), and Kozhin changed his mind.

Danilenko & Shmagly (1972) and Telegin (1973), however, have interpreted similar

objects from Dereivka as cheek-pieces and declared the steppe horse-breeders to

be nomadic riders who undertook distant military raids. Gimbutas (1977), who

studied in Heidelberg (Germany) under outstanding pan-Germanic ideologists (as

Hausler (1996) has discovered) gave this issue a political character: in her

interpretation savage warrior-raiders, invading from the east, barbarously

destroyed the farming culture of Europe and brought Indo-European languages

there.

This hypothesis has already been opposed (Kuzmina 1981; 1983; 1994a,b; 1996-97,

1999). Now the interpretation of `cheek-pieces' and domestication are under

serious criticism (Levine 1990; 1999; Rassamakin 1994; 1999; Trifonov & Izbitser

1997). Judging from the ethnographic and archaeological data, analyzed

artifacts have a wide range of formal analogies, from braiding tools (Chernysh

1969) and horn mattocks of the Tripolye culture (Rassamakin 1999) to pastoral

staves (Gryaznov 1999) and implements for undoing knots in China. Dietz (1992)

has undertaken a study of similar objects in Europe which are widespread within

different cultures. She determined that that they were multi-functional and

appear in cultures of different economic types-including those without horses.

Such objects are especially numerous on pile settlements in Switzerland where

they served for net-braiding. Thus, there are no serious arguments to support

horseback riding in the steppes. As for horse teeth evidence for the use of

cheek-pieces (Anthony and Brown 1991), that horse, as already stated, does not

belong to the Eneolithic (Anthony 1999).

(Omitted paragraph).

Horse bones on Eneolithic sites on the Pontic Caspian steppes are split which

means that the horse was used as a meat animal. There is evidence of neither

nomadic herding nor distant migration, and we can agree with Renfrew (1999, 10)

when he says: `the notion of " kurgan culture " mounted warriors around 3500 or

3000 BC as responsible for carrying Indo-European speech from the steppe lands

westward into Central Europe should be definitively abandoned (Kuzmina 2003, pp.

213-214). "

Kuzmina, Elena E. (2003), " Origins of Pastoralism in the Eurasian Steppes, " in

Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse, Marsha Levine, Colin Renfrew, and

Kati Boyle (Eds.), pp. 203-232, Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute for

Archaeological Research.

" These data are believed to confirm the hypothesis that Yamnaya groups migrated

only within small local grassland areas. The absence of large permanent

settlements seems to indicate that such migrations, even within such regions,

were undertaken on a regular basis. No direct evidence is available of

large-scale migrations of Yamnaya groups (Shishlina 2003, p. 360). "

" Therefore, I (Shishlina) suggest that, during the Yamnaya culture period,

horses played only a minimal role in the pastoral exploitation of the Eurasian

steppe. Herders could use them as draught animals and for riding.

Long-distance migrations were unnecessary. Pastoral routes were small. In this

economic cycle, the horse played a key role among other domesticated animals,

because it could be used to break snow cover (Shishlina 2003, p. 362). "

" Thus, I (Shishlina) am in agreement with Levine: at present we do not have any

archaeological evidence to prove the existence of warrior horse-raiders from the

fourth and the first millennium BC (Levine 1999). Furthermore, I am in

agreement with Rassamkin that `we cannot interpret the Early Eneolithic as a

period of nomadic horse-riding, or even of developed pastoralism (Rassamakin

1999, 139), (Shishlina 2003, p. 363). "

Shishlina, Natalia I. (2003), " Yamnaya Culture Pastoral Explotation: a Local

Sequence, " in Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse, Marsha Levine, Colin

Renfrew, and Kati Boyle (Eds.), pp. 353-365, Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute

for Archaeological Research. "

[Guest guest]

Dear Kishoreji, Has anybody investigated about the regions with such climate in the ancient past which were most likely to have herbivorous animals like horse? These will be the earliest natural habitat of horse. I think we have to locate the areas where a lot of rain occurred and where there was no snow throughout the year so that plenty of grass could grow.Regards,Sunil K. Bhattacharjya--- On Fri, 3/6/09, kishore patnaik <kishorepatnaik09 wrote:kishore patnaik <kishorepatnaik09 Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE"" Friday, March 6, 2009, 6:51 AM

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------Dan Lusthaus <vasubandhu@earthlin k.net>

Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM[indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCEIndo-Eurasian_ research

 

 

 

 

This should be of interest to some list members, and perhaps raise an eyebrow or two. An article in today's "Science" magazine claims proof for Horse domestication at 3500 BCE. Here's the abstract.

 

The Earliest Horse Harnessing and Milking

 

Alan K. Outram, Natalie A. Stear, Robin Bendrey, Sandra Olsen, Alexei Kasparov,

Victor Zaibert, Nick Thorpe, Richard P. Evershed

 

Horse domestication revolutionized transport, communications, and warfare in prehistory, yet the identification of early domestication processes has been problematic. Here, we present three independent lines of evidence demonstrating domestication in the Eneolithic Botai Culture of Kazakhstan, dating to about 3500 B.C.E. Metrical analysis of horse metacarpals shows that Botai horses resemble Bronze Age domestic horses rather than Paleolithic wild horses from the same region. Pathological characteristics indicate that some Botai horses were bridled, perhaps ridden. Organic residue analysis, using d13C and dD values of fatty acids, reveals processing of mare's milk and carcass products in ceramics, indicating a developed domestic economy encompassing secondary products.

 

"Science," 6 March 2009, Vol 323, Issue 5919, pp. 1332-35.

Includes photos of molars showing wear from bits.

A pdf of the full piece is available if you have access.

 

The NYTimes has a piece covering this:

 

Earlier Date Suggested for Horse Domestication

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

Published: March 5, 2009

 

It is a long way from Kazakhstan to Kentucky, but the journey to the Derby may have started among a pastoral people on the Kazakh steppes who appear to have been the first to domesticate, bridle and perhaps ride horses - around 3500 B.C., a millennium earlier than previously thought.

 

Archaeologists say the discovery may revise thinking about the development of some preagricultural Eurasian societies and put an earlier date to their dispersal into Europe and elsewhere. These migrations are believed to have been associated with horse domestication and the spread of Indo-European languages.

 

See the rest at

http://www.nytimes. com/2009/ 03/06/science/ 06horses. html

 

Dan Lusthaus

 

 

[Guest guest]



Lot of rain was occuring, in and around the very place where is located the Shinx - Egypt. Heavy rain period was ~10,500 BC.

 

Surprising ? yet Yes.

 

db

=========================

 

-

Sunil Bhattacharjya

Saturday, March 07, 2009 2:44 PM

Re: Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Kishoreji, Has anybody investigated about the regions with such climate in the ancient past which were most likely to have herbivorous animals like horse? These will be the earliest natural habitat of horse. I think we have to locate the areas where a lot of rain occurred and where there was no snow throughout the year so that plenty of grass could grow.Regards,Sunil K. Bhattacharjya--- On Fri, 3/6/09, kishore patnaik <kishorepatnaik09 > wrote:

kishore patnaik <kishorepatnaik09 > Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE"" Friday, March 6, 2009, 6:51 AM

 

 

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------Dan Lusthaus <vasubandhu@earthlin k.net>Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM[indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCEIndo-Eurasian_ research

 

 

 

 

This should be of interest to some list members, and perhaps raise an eyebrow or two. An article in today's "Science" magazine claims proof for Horse domestication at 3500 BCE. Here's the abstract.The Earliest Horse Harnessing and MilkingAlan K. Outram, Natalie A. Stear, Robin Bendrey, Sandra Olsen, Alexei Kasparov,Victor Zaibert, Nick Thorpe, Richard P. EvershedHorse domestication revolutionized transport, communications, and warfare in prehistory, yet the identification of early domestication processes has been problematic. Here, we present three independent lines of evidence demonstrating domestication in the Eneolithic Botai Culture of Kazakhstan, dating to about 3500 B.C.E. Metrical analysis of horse metacarpals shows that Botai horses resemble Bronze Age domestic horses rather than Paleolithic wild horses from the same region. Pathological characteristics indicate that some Botai horses were bridled, perhaps ridden. Organic residue analysis, using d13C and dD values of fatty acids, reveals processing of mare's milk and carcass products in ceramics, indicating a developed domestic economy encompassing secondary products."Science," 6 March 2009, Vol 323, Issue 5919, pp. 1332-35.Includes photos of molars showing wear from bits.A pdf of the full piece is available if you have access.The NYTimes has a piece covering this:Earlier Date Suggested for Horse DomesticationBy JOHN NOBLE WILFORDPublished: March 5, 2009It is a long way from Kazakhstan to Kentucky, but the journey to the Derby may have started among a pastoral people on the Kazakh steppes who appear to have been the first to domesticate, bridle and perhaps ride horses - around 3500 B.C., a millennium earlier than previously thought.Archaeologists say the discovery may revise thinking about the development of some preagricultural Eurasian societies and put an earlier date to their dispersal into Europe and elsewhere. These migrations are believed to have been associated with horse domestication and the spread of Indo-European languages.See the rest athttp://www.nytimes. com/2009/ 03/06/science/ 06horses. htmlDan Lusthaus

[Guest guest]

Thanks , a valuable piece of information. However are you sure that there was no other place. Did Prithu till and cultivate land in the Aryavarta in the 9th Millennium BCE without there being rain.--- On Sun, 3/8/09, oddisilab <oddisilab1 wrote:oddisilab <oddisilab1Re: Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE Date: Sunday, March 8, 2009, 12:21 AM

 



Lot of rain was occuring, in and around the very place where is located the Shinx - Egypt. Heavy rain period was ~10,500 BC.

 

Surprising ? yet Yes.

 

db

============ ========= ====

 

-

Sunil Bhattacharjya

 

Saturday, March 07, 2009 2:44 PM

Re: Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Kishoreji, Has anybody investigated about the regions with such climate in the ancient past which were most likely to have herbivorous animals like horse? These will be the earliest natural habitat of horse. I think we have to locate the areas where a lot of rain occurred and where there was no snow throughout the year so that plenty of grass could grow.Regards,Sunil K. Bhattacharjya--- On Fri, 3/6/09, kishore patnaik <kishorepatnaik09@ gmail.com> wrote:

kishore patnaik <kishorepatnaik09@ gmail.com> Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE"" <>Friday, March 6, 2009, 6:51 AM

 

 

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------Dan Lusthaus <vasubandhu@earthlin k.net>Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM[indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCEIndo-Eurasian_ research

 

 

 

 

This should be of interest to some list members, and perhaps raise an eyebrow or two. An article in today's "Science" magazine claims proof for Horse domestication at 3500 BCE. Here's the abstract.The Earliest Horse Harnessing and MilkingAlan K. Outram, Natalie A. Stear, Robin Bendrey, Sandra Olsen, Alexei Kasparov,Victor Zaibert, Nick Thorpe, Richard P. EvershedHorse domestication revolutionized transport, communications, and warfare in prehistory, yet the identification of early domestication processes has been problematic. Here, we present three independent lines of evidence demonstrating domestication in the Eneolithic Botai Culture of Kazakhstan, dating to about 3500 B.C.E. Metrical analysis of horse metacarpals shows that Botai horses resemble Bronze Age domestic horses rather than Paleolithic wild horses from the same region. Pathological characteristics indicate that some Botai horses were bridled, perhaps ridden. Organic residue analysis, using d13C and dD values of fatty acids, reveals processing of mare's milk and carcass products in ceramics, indicating a developed domestic economy encompassing secondary products."Science," 6 March 2009, Vol 323, Issue 5919, pp. 1332-35.Includes photos of molars showing wear from bits.A pdf of the full piece is available if you have access.The NYTimes has a piece covering this:Earlier Date Suggested for Horse DomesticationBy JOHN NOBLE WILFORDPublished: March 5, 2009It is a long way from Kazakhstan to Kentucky, but the journey to the Derby may have started among a pastoral people on the Kazakh steppes who appear to have been the first to domesticate, bridle and perhaps ride horses - around 3500 B.C., a millennium earlier than previously thought.Archaeologists say the discovery may revise thinking about the development of some preagricultural Eurasian societies and put an earlier date to their dispersal into Europe and elsewhere. These migrations are believed to have been associated with horse domestication and the spread of Indo-European languages.See the rest athttp://www.nytimes. com/2009/ 03/06/science/ 06horses. htmlDan Lusthaus

[Guest guest]



did not understand/folow the import of your query.

 

Dr. db

 

 

 

-

Sunil Bhattacharjya

Monday, March 09, 2009 9:28 AM

Re: Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks , a valuable piece of information. However are you sure that there was no other place. Did Prithu till and cultivate land in the Aryavarta in the 9th Millennium BCE without there being rain.--- On Sun, 3/8/09, oddisilab <oddisilab1 (AT) dataone (DOT) in> wrote:

oddisilab <oddisilab1 (AT) dataone (DOT) in>Re: Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE Date: Sunday, March 8, 2009, 12:21 AM

 

 



Lot of rain was occuring, in and around the very place where is located the Shinx - Egypt. Heavy rain period was ~10,500 BC.

 

Surprising ? yet Yes.

 

db

============ ========= ====

 

-

Sunil Bhattacharjya

 

Saturday, March 07, 2009 2:44 PM

Re: Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Kishoreji, Has anybody investigated about the regions with such climate in the ancient past which were most likely to have herbivorous animals like horse? These will be the earliest natural habitat of horse. I think we have to locate the areas where a lot of rain occurred and where there was no snow throughout the year so that plenty of grass could grow.Regards,Sunil K. Bhattacharjya--- On Fri, 3/6/09, kishore patnaik <kishorepatnaik09@ gmail.com> wrote:

kishore patnaik <kishorepatnaik09@ gmail.com> Fwd: [indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCE"" <>Friday, March 6, 2009, 6:51 AM

 

 

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------Dan Lusthaus <vasubandhu@earthlin k.net>Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM[indo-Eurasia] Horse domestication at 3500 BCEIndo-Eurasian_ research

 

 

 

 

This should be of interest to some list members, and perhaps raise an eyebrow or two. An article in today's "Science" magazine claims proof for Horse domestication at 3500 BCE. Here's the abstract.The Earliest Horse Harnessing and MilkingAlan K. Outram, Natalie A. Stear, Robin Bendrey, Sandra Olsen, Alexei Kasparov,Victor Zaibert, Nick Thorpe, Richard P. EvershedHorse domestication revolutionized transport, communications, and warfare in prehistory, yet the identification of early domestication processes has been problematic. Here, we present three independent lines of evidence demonstrating domestication in the Eneolithic Botai Culture of Kazakhstan, dating to about 3500 B.C.E. Metrical analysis of horse metacarpals shows that Botai horses resemble Bronze Age domestic horses rather than Paleolithic wild horses from the same region. Pathological characteristics indicate that some Botai horses were bridled, perhaps ridden. Organic residue analysis, using d13C and dD values of fatty acids, reveals processing of mare's milk and carcass products in ceramics, indicating a developed domestic economy encompassing secondary products."Science," 6 March 2009, Vol 323, Issue 5919, pp. 1332-35.Includes photos of molars showing wear from bits.A pdf of the full piece is available if you have access.The NYTimes has a piece covering this:Earlier Date Suggested for Horse DomesticationBy JOHN NOBLE WILFORDPublished: March 5, 2009It is a long way from Kazakhstan to Kentucky, but the journey to the Derby may have started among a pastoral people on the Kazakh steppes who appear to have been the first to domesticate, bridle and perhaps ride horses - around 3500 B.C., a millennium earlier than previously thought.Archaeologists say the discovery may revise thinking about the development of some preagricultural Eurasian societies and put an earlier date to their dispersal into Europe and elsewhere. These migrations are believed to have been associated with horse domestication and the spread of Indo-European languages.See the rest athttp://www.nytimes. com/2009/ 03/06/science/ 06horses. htmlDan Lusthaus