HERDS - Horse Domestication and Early Husbandry in Central Asian Steppes: Bone Remains to Document Uses and Breeding Practices in Pastoral Societies

牧群 - 中亚草原的马驯化和早期畜牧业：遗骨记录了牧区社会的使用和饲养实践

• 批准号: EP/Y016521/1
• 负责人: Alan Outram
• 金额: $ 25.55万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FY016521%2F1
• 关键词: HERDS; Horse; Domestication; Early; Husbandry

Of all the animals to have been domesticated, few influenced human societies as much as the horse (Equus caballus). Horse domestication revolutionized mobility and transformed the organization of past human populations. Although it is considered as a milestone in human history, the early phases of horse domestication and uses are however challenging to reconstruct. HERDS ("Horse Domestication and Early Husbandry in Central Asian Steppes: Bone Remains to Document Uses and Breeding Practices in Pastoral Societies") will investigate early horse husbandry in Kazakhstan. It will focus on the Eneolithic Botai Culture, where horse husbandry has first been attested, and on ensuing Bronze Age pastoral societies which sees the progressive development of equestrianism. The aim will be to better understand the role of horses in these cultures and evaluate the extent to which they have been physically impacted by human management. In that respect, archaeological bones represent the best surviving direct testimony of the morphofunctional characteristics of past animals. The analyses will be carried out on horse remains coming from a wide range ofarchaeological sites from the Mesolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Cutting-edge approaches will be used to characterize bone outer and inner structure. Estimates of muscle performance and bone biomechanical properties will also be computed to infer the functional traits of these early domestic horses. The knowledge of the fellow in horse functional anatomy perfectly complements the strong expertise of the supervisor in equine archaeology from Central Asia. HERDS will allow to gain insight into how horses were exploited and selected in early pastoral societies, and how early husbandry strategies and equestrian technologies have impacted their biological features. Conversely, it will provide meaningful data concerning how its domestication contributed to shape pastoral societies in transforming their mobility, trade and warfare practices.

在所有被驯化的动物中，很少有像马（埃科斯·卡巴鲁斯）那样受到人类社会的影响。马驯化彻底改变了流动性，并改变了过去人口的组织。尽管它被认为是人类历史上的里程碑，但马匹驯化和用途的早期阶段对于重建而具有挑战性。牛群（“中亚草原中的马匹驯化和早期饲养：骨头仍然要记录牧民社会的用途和繁殖实践”）将在哈萨克斯坦调查早期的马饲养。它将重点关注的是养殖马的杂田植物文化，并在那里得到证明，并随之而来的是青铜时代的牧民社会，这是毕业生的渐进发展。目的是更好地了解马匹在这些文化中的作用，并评估它们受到人类管理的身体影响的程度。在这方面，考古骨骼代表了过去动物的形态功能特征的最佳直接证词。这些分析将在从中石器时代到青铜时代晚期的广泛遗址进行的马匹遗体进行。尖端的方法将用于表征骨外和内部结构。还将计算出肌肉性能和骨生物力学特性的估计，以推断这些早期家马的功能性状。马匹功能解剖学研究员的知识完美地补充了中亚的马考古学主管的强大专业知识。牛群将允许深入了解马匹如何在早期的牧区社会中被剥削和选择，以及早期的饲养策略和马术技术如何影响其生物学特征。相反，它将提供有关其驯化如何在改变其流动性，贸易和战争实践时塑造牧师社会的有意义的数据。