Med. Weter. 82 (3), 152-156, 2026
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| AGATA MAŁYSZEK, MACIEJ JANECZEK |
| Domestication of the horse (Equus caballus) and its spread in prehistoric and ancient times – biological aspects |
| The domestication of the horse (Equus caballus) was one of the most transformative events in human history, profoundly influencing the development of civilisation. Unlike the dog, cattle or sheep, the horse was domesticated relatively late, in the 4th-3rd millennium BCE. The earliest evidence of horse exploitation, including the consumption of mare’s milk and the use of harnessing, comes from Botai culture settlements in presentday northern Kazakhstan. However, archaeogenomic analyses have shown that Botai horses were not the direct ancestors of modern domestic horses but were more closely related to the Przewalski’s horse. Modern domestic horses derive instead from the so-called DOM2 population, which arose in the Pontic-Caspian steppe around 2200-2000 BCE and rapidly expanded across Eurasia, replacing earlier local domesticated forms. Palaeogenomic studies have revealed key phenomena associated with this process, including genetic bottlenecks, a striking loss of Y-chromosome diversity, and episodes of introgression from wild populations. Human-driven artificial selection further contributed to the emergence of a wide range of breeds, diverse coat colours and performance-related traits, but also caused a reduction in overall genetic diversity. The migrations of steppe peoples, particularly those associated with the Yamnaya and Andronovo cultures, played a central role in horse dispersal, linking equine history to the spread of Indo-European languages and new patterns of social organisation. Horses simultaneously became crucial elements of military power, mobility and prestige in the ancient civilisations of the Near East, Egypt, Anatolia and Nubia. This review synthesises current archaeological, genetic and palaeogenomic evidence on early horse domestication, highlights morphological and phenotypic changes under domestication and analyses the main dispersal routes of horses in the Bronze Age and antiquity. It also underlines the importance of further archaeogenomic and zootechnical research for understanding the domestication process and for preserving the biodiversity of modern horse breeds. |
| Key words: horse domestication; archaeogenomics; ancient DNA; Yamnaya culture; DOM2 genetic diversity; |