Scientists say ancient Europeans rode horses 5,000 years ago
March 4, 2023
A group of researchers made the assessment based on analyses of hundreds of human skeletons in Central Europe. They say it could explain the rapid geographic expansion of the Yamnaya people from modern-day Ukraine.
Exploiting the speed of horses allowed ancient Crimeans to quickly expand their territories far into Europe Image: Sergei Malgavko/Tass/dpa/picture alliance
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A group of international researchers on Friday said they believe to have compelling evidence that ancient Europeans were riding horses 5,000 years ago.
The team from the University of Helsinki and other European institutions made the claim after examining more than 200 human skeletons in museum collections in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The team's findings, published in the journal Science Advances, claimed skeletal signs of what scientists call "horsemanship syndrome." These are recognized in six telltale markers indicating a person was likely regularly riding an animal — including characteristic wear marks on the hip sockets, thigh bones and pelvis, as well as stress-induced vertebral degeneration.
"If you sit on horseback, you need to balance with every step of your mount, you need to cling tightly with your legs," said Martin Trautmann, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki.
He said such morphology is pronounced as "saddles and stirrups dated much later," adding that early riders likely rode bareback and gripped the mane of the horse.
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Horseback riding a decisive step in human development
"Our findings provide a strong argument that horseback riding was already a common activity for some Yamnaya individuals as early as 3000 B.C."
Archaeologist Volker Heyd of the University of Helsinki said the find "fits very nicely into the overall picture" of the Yamnaya, a Bronze Age culture known for its burial mounds, or "kurgans," and originating from the Pontic Caspian steppe in what is now Ukraine and western Russia.
Researchers long suspected the Yamnaya used horses as that would explain the culture's rapid geographical expansion over the course of just a few generations.
"It is difficult to envision how this expansion could have taken place without improved means of transport," researchers said. "Using horses for transport was a decisive step in human cultural development."
"The spread of Indo-European languages is linked to their movement, and they reshaped the genetic make-up of Europe," said archaeologist Heyd.
Researchers said it is unlikely that the Yamnaya were a warrior people.
"They were cowboys not warriors," said Martin Trautman.
The team is convinced that only a small number of individuals would have been riders who "were probably helping the Yamnaya people in guarding their animals, their cattle and sheep mostly."
The researchers involved in the report say the earliest clues to horseback riding are depictions from the Mesopotamian Ur III period (shortly before 2000 BC). The activity was also written about and visually depicted in the Old Babylonian period from 1880-1595 BC.
Humans and horses: An ages-old friendship
Horses in antiquity were work animals, status symbols, companions, as well as mythical creatures as illustrated in an exhibition at Germany's Winckelmann Museum.
Image: Paul Williams/Funkystock/imageBROKER/picture alliance
Legend of the Trojan horse
To conquer the city of Troy after years of siege, the Greek army pretended to withdraw, leaving behind a huge wooden horse as a gift to the goddess Athena. Greek soldiers hid inside its belly — the ruse worked, the horse was brought into the city, the soldiers stormed out and opened the city gates to let the Greek army in.
Image: Sunny Celeste/picture alliance
Huge walk-in Trojan horse
The Trojan horse is part of Greek mythology. Poets including Homer and Virgil kept the legend alive in their stories. The oldest representation dates back to 670 BC. Trojan horse replicas can be found all over the world. A large walk-in copy, at over 15 meters (49 feet), towers over the park of the Winckelmann Museum in Stendal and is part of the "The Horse in Antiquity" exhibition.
Image: Heiko Janowski
Worship and appreciation
The museum displays numerous items that demonstrate the great appreciation society has had for horses. There are bronze horse sculptures, horses painted on vases, printed on coins and etched in stone. The photo shows a clay box that dates back to 775 BC.
Image: Arch. Mus .d. WWU Münster
Roman cavalry horse
Roman cavalry horses were relatively small animals — that's why the saddles had no stirrups. The mounted soldiers flanked the armies or circled the enemy soldiers to advance into gaps at just the right moment. Antiquity featured mostly mounted archers.
Image: Archiv Winckelmann-Gesellschaft
Horse and chariot at the Circus Maximus
The ancient Olympic Games had horse and chariot races that were held in specially built stadiums, the hippodromes. The chariots were often driven by slaves and women. The Romans also held chariot races in the Circus Maximus stadium in Rome, and other athletic competitions they called "Greek-style games."
Image: Paul Williams/Funkystock/imageBROKER/picture alliance
The gods and their horses
This bowl used to mix wine and water, called a volute crater, showcases the palace of the underworld gods Hades and Persephone. In Greek mythology, Hades rode in a chariot drawn by with four black stallions. Helios, the Greek sun god, moved across the sky with four white stallions. Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, was considered the creator and embodiment of all horses.
Image: Robert Dylka/Arch. Mus. d. WWU Münster
Pegasus, the white-winged stallion
Legend has it that his birth was spectacular: After the hero Perseus decapitated the snake-haired Medusa, a winged horse sprang from her torso: Pegasus. Only the goddess Athena could tame him, with a golden bridle. The horse of heroes and gods is immortalized in numerous statues.
Centaurs are half horse, half man. They are considered lustful and barbaric. In mythology, only one of the hybrid creatures was considered wise and just, and that was Chiron. A skilled hunter and healer, he is said to have tutored many Greek heroes such as Achilles and Asclepius. According to legend, Zeus immortalized Chiron in a constellation. It shines south of the 25th parallel.
Image: Karl F. Schöfmann/imageBROKER/picture alliance
Fabled unicorns
Unicorns symbolize purity, innocence and everything good. The creatures do not appear in Greek and Roman mythology, but became popular in the late Middle Ages, when Hildegard von Bingen and Albertus Magnus mentioned them in their pharmacopoeias, or books on the composition of medicines. Marco Polo claimed to have seen one on Sumatra. It is more likely that he encountered a rhinoceros.
