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In this episode of Ethnocynology, host David Ian Howe sits down with archaeologist and anthropologist Dr. William Taylor (University of Colorado Boulder), author of Hoofbeats: How Horses Shaped Human History.
While this show usually focuses on dogs, today we shift to the other animal that transformed humanity: the horse. Dr. Taylor walks us through the evolutionary history of horses, their domestication on the Eurasian steppe, and their reintroduction to the Americas after the Ice Age. Together we explore how humans first interacted with horses—as prey, symbols in cave art, sources of milk and meat, and eventually as partners in transport, warfare, and belief systems.
Hoofbeats: How Horses Shaped Human History by Dr. William Taylor — available on Amazon and other retailers.
Topics include:
The origins of domestic horses around 2000 BC in the Caucasus steppes
Horses evolving in North America, going extinct, and being reintroduced by the Spanish
Hunting evidence from sites like Schöningen in Germany and Bluefish Caves in the Yukon
Horses in Paleolithic cave art (Lascaux, Chauvet) and the Vogelherd ivory carving
Evidence for early horse riding and chariot use in Egypt, Assyria, and beyond
The role of horses in indigenous North and South American societies before widespread European contact
Ethno-equine parallels in Mongolia, Australia, and Patagonia, where horses shaped cultural, spiritual, and economic life
This is Part 1 of a two-part series: next time, David speaks with Cassidy Thornhill of the University of Wyoming, who researches the protohistoric introduction of horses into the Americas.
If you enjoy the episode, please rate and review Ethnocynology on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It helps more people discover the show and supports the entire Archaeology Podcast Network.
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro and Dr. Wiliam Taylor
2:43 Horse domestication areas
4:40 Early evolutionary history / The Americas
6:34 Earliest human-horse interactions / Hunting / Art
10:47 Were horses milked?
13:36 The Vogelherd Horse
17:05 Curiosity Box
18:59 Horse reintroduction into the Americas
24:30 Indigenous horse interactions
28:17 Do horses do so well because they are from here?
30:49 How do we find horses archaeologically?
34:30 Horse back riding origins / Egypt / Chariots
41:29 Ethoequineology: Mongolia
43:53 Ethoequineology: Australia
45:14 Ethoequineology: Patagonia
48:03 Closing Thoughts
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Ethnocynology is brought to you by the Archaeology Podcast Network and Howe and Why productions, LLC
Director: David Ian Howe
Producers: Chris Webster, Tristan Boyle, Rachel Roden, Ashleigh Airey
Podcast editors: Rachel Roden, Chris Webster
Video editor: David Ian Howe
Music: KNOWMADIC
Intro Animations: Ilene German
www.archpodnet.com
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Bro great video and channel you bound to grow
This has got to be one of the most interesting topics ever because it involves the coming together of the histories of man, horses, their coexistence and the engineering involved in equine exploitation.
he never mentioned the zebra . how did they get there and when and not domesticated by african tribes
did you only have one mic while doing the interview? why are you cutting away to tell us what you asked instead of just letting us hear the interview?
Was a dare the precursor to domestication? Dare to climb on the back of a horse?
Well they were also wild horses in South America straddling on the equator, so allow me to quote a recent response paper and say that Big Chill is hard to kill but it's time to move on.
I love horses and dogs. I cannot afford to own a horse, but I have owned dogs most of my life. Horses can be finicky and sometimes dangerous. Dogs will love you to death, protect you , play with you, and be your everyday companion. They are a gift from the Gods. Daniel Boone once said that all a man needs in this life is a good gun, a good dog, a good horse, and a good wife.
In terms of the development of human civilizations including early empires and eventually, nation states, the horse is the key domesticated animal that provided humans with great mobility over vast distances, created a tactical and strategic advantage over non-horse cultures and provided the power to do heavy work. Interestingly, the dog was used by indigenous American tribes for transport of sleds until the reappearance of the horse in the Americas.
Did Zebras migrate al the way from America? The stripes developed as defense of horse fly's?
… possibly the Norse… ?