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，很少有动物能像马（Equus caballus）那样对人类社会产生如此大的影响。马的驯化彻底改变了流动性，改变了过去人类的组织。虽然它被认为是人类历史上的一个里程碑，但马的驯化和使用的早期阶段却很难重建。牧群（“中亚草原的马驯化和早期畜牧业：记录牧区社会使用和繁殖实践的骨骼遗骸”）将调查哈萨克斯坦的早期畜牧业。它将集中在新石器时代的博泰文化，那里的马畜牧业已首次得到证实，并在随后的青铜时代的游牧社会，看到马术的逐步发展。目的是更好地了解马在这些文化中的作用，并评估它们在多大程度上受到人类管理的影响。在这方面，考古学上的骨骼是现存的最好的直接证据，可以证明过去动物的形态功能特征。这些分析将在来自中石器时代到青铜时代晚期的广泛考古遗址的马遗骸上进行。将使用最先进的方法来表征骨的外部和内部结构。还将计算肌肉性能和骨生物力学特性的估计值，以推断这些早期家养马的功能性状。马功能解剖学研究员的知识完美地补充了来自中亚的马考古学主管的强大专业知识。《牧群》将让我们深入了解马匹在早期牧区社会中是如何被利用和选择的，以及早期的畜牧业战略和马术技术是如何影响它们的生物特征的。相反，它将提供有意义的数据，说明其驯化如何有助于塑造游牧社会，改变其流动性，贸易和战争做法。