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Digging for Answers
To find out more about when humans first began to domesticate horses, scientists have turned to a site called Krasnyi Yar. There, in the grasslands of Central Asia, the Botai people settled over 5,000 years ago.
Scientists have found thousands of horse bones at Krasnyi Yar, showing that the Botai depended on horses. But were these horses domestic or wild? Scientists are studying different kinds of evidence to find out.
For example, many of the bones are covered with cut marks, showing that the Botai killed the horses for their meat. With a whole village to feed and no signs of agriculture, the village may have relied on horsemeat as its main food. The Botai may have also milked horses, as people in the region still do today. To find out, scientists are testing the pottery for tiny traces of milk.
Signs of fenced areas show the Botai may have kept their horses in corrals. Archaeologists have also found tools used to make leather ropes—important for making bridles and lassos for controlling horses.
