Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Utilization Of Domestic Horses In Historical And Ecological Context

在艾米丽琼斯博士（PI）的监督下，威廉T。泰勒（合作PI）将分析古代马匹的骨骼遗骸，以阐明欧亚大陆东部的马匹放牧和骑马的起源。使用家养马作为食物和运输工具与人类社会的重大社会，政治和经济变化有关，但其在史前的起源却知之甚少。该项目将通过人口研究来解决这些问题，以确定古代放牧做法，形态分析，以建立骑马和/或驾驶的证据，以及放射性碳年代测定。这项研究将提高对国内马的使用，生态和人类行为之间的联系的理解。 此外，该项目将资助泰勒先生在新墨西哥州大学完成论文，并将导致创建一个开放访问的古代马遗骸3D数据库，以保存这些数据用于研究和教育。这项工作将通过蒙古文和英文的会谈和同行审查的手稿与国际社会分享。泰勒先生的研究将测试的预测，骑马，放牧社会的发展，以应对新的生态机会在公元前2000年，几个世纪前比一些现有的模型东亚建议。通过将古代马匹和现代标本与已知历史进行比较，联合PI将描述缰绳和骑马对马头骨的影响，并使用3D扫描仪开发定量技术，用于在考古背景下识别马匹运输。通过估计蒙古青铜时代晚期石碑中埋藏的马标本的年龄和性别，泰勒先生将评估公元前1300年至公元前700年之间古代马放牧的可能性。在便携式3D扫描仪的帮助下，他将分析这些考古标本的病理变化，并利用这些数据来评估马匹被骑或用于拉战车的假设。 最后，利用新的和已发表的放射性碳年代测定，泰勒先生将制作一个年代模型，将古代蒙古马的使用变化与欧亚大陆的主要环境和文化发展联系起来。这些互补的研究将有助于发展牧马和骑马的起源和传播的解释模型，这些模型可以应用于地球仪的现代和古代社会。

Under the supervision of Dr. Emily Jones (PI), William T. Taylor (co-PI) will analyze skeletal remains of ancient horses to shed light on the origins of horse herding and riding in eastern Eurasia. The use of the domestic horse for food and transport has been linked with major social, political, and economic changes to human societies, but its origins in prehistory are poorly understood. This project will address these questions through demographic study to identify ancient herding practices, morphological analyses to establish evidence for horseback riding and/or driving, and radiocarbon dating. This research will improve understanding of the links between domestic horse use, ecology, and human behavior. In addition, the project will fund the completion of Mr. Taylor's dissertation at the University of New Mexico, and will lead to the creation of an open-access 3D database of ancient horse remains to preserve these data for research and education. The work will be shared with the international community through talks and peer-reviewed manuscripts in both Mongolian and English. Mr. Taylor's research will test predictions that horse-riding, herding societies developed in response to new ecological opportunities during the 2nd millennium BCE, centuries earlier than some existing models for East Asia suggest. By comparing ancient horses and modern specimens with known histories, the co-PI will characterize the impacts of bridling and riding on the equine skull, and using a 3D scanner, develop quantitative techniques for identifying horse transport in archaeological contexts. By estimating the age and sex of horse specimens buried at late Bronze Age stone monuments in Mongolia, Mr. Taylor will evaluate the possibility of ancient horse herding between 1300 and 700 BCE. With the aid of a portable 3D scanner, he will analyze these archaeological specimens for pathological changes, and use these data to assess the hypothesis that the horses were ridden or used to pull chariots. Finally, using new and published radiocarbon dates, Mr. Taylor will produce a chronological model to link changes in ancient Mongolian horse use with key environmental and cultural developments in Eurasia. These complementary studies will help to develop explanatory models for the origins and spread of horse herding and riding, which can be applied to modern and ancient societies around the globe.