Earliest known domestic horses

A team of archaeologists has uncovered evidence of the earliest known domestication of the horse. The earliest domesticated horses were likely milked as well as ridden. The origins of horse domestication have been traced back over 5000 years to the Botai Culture of Kazakhstan by a team led by archaeologists from the Universities of Exeter and Bristol. This is 1000 years earlier than previously thought.

The team found a variety of evidence including traces of fats from horse milk in pottery, drinking horse milk popular in Kazakhstan to the present day. Analysis of horse bones also shows evidence of "bit damage" showing the horses were harnessed and maybe ridden. The bones are also different to wild horses in the region, being similar to later domesticated horses from the Bronze Age.