Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age. (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fages, Antoine; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Germonpré, Mietje; Orlando, Ludovic
• Is Part Of: Journal of archaeological science. Volume 31(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: Ancient DNA -- Horse -- Domestication -- Stallions -- Mares -- Gender bias -- Bronze Age; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Research -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102364
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-409X

Abstract

Highlights: We generated low-coverage DNA data for 19 new Upper Paleolithic horses from Belgium. We determined the molecular sex of 249 horse remains spanning the last 40, 000 years. Osseous assemblages showed balanced male:female sex ratios until 3900 years cal. BP. Osseous assemblages post-3900 years cal. BP became strongly biased towards males. Abstract: The domestication of the horse and the development of new equestrian technologies have had a far-reaching impact on human history. Disentangling the respective role that horse males and females played during this process is, however, difficult based on iconography and osteological data alone. In this study, we leveraged an extensive ancient DNA time-series to determine the molecular sex of 268 horses spread across Eurasia and charted the male:female sex ratio through the last 40, 000 years. We found even sex ratios in the Upper Palaeolithic and up until ~3900 years BP. However, we identified a striking over-representation of horse males in more recent osseous assemblages, which was particularly magnified in funerary contexts but also significant in non-ritual deposits. This suggests that the earliest horse herders managed males and females alike for more than one thousand years after domestication at Botai, but that the human representation and use of horses became gendered at the beginning of the Bronze Age, following the emergence of gender inequalities in human societies.