Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Standard

Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age. / Fages, Antoine; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Germonpre, Mietje; Orlando, Ludovic.

In: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Vol. 31, 102364, 2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Fages, A, Seguin-Orlando, A, Germonpre, M & Orlando, L 2020, 'Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 31, 102364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102364

APA

Fages, A., Seguin-Orlando, A., Germonpre, M., & Orlando, L. (2020). Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 31, [102364]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102364

Vancouver

Fages A, Seguin-Orlando A, Germonpre M, Orlando L. Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 2020;31. 102364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102364

Author

Fages, Antoine ; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine ; Germonpre, Mietje ; Orlando, Ludovic. / Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age. In: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 2020 ; Vol. 31.

Bibtex

@article{77758d382e6b4408ac47982a558a7264,
title = "Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age",
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 similar to 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.",
keywords = "Ancient DNA, Horse, Domestication, Stallions, Mares, Gender bias, Bronze Age, GENOME SEQUENCE, ANCIENT, DOMESTICATION, EVOLUTION, ACCURATE",
author = "Antoine Fages and Andaine Seguin-Orlando and Mietje Germonpre and Ludovic Orlando",
year = "2020",
doi = "10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102364",
language = "English",
volume = "31",
journal = "Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports",
issn = "2352-409X",
publisher = "Elsevier",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Horse males became over-represented in archaeological assemblages during the Bronze Age

AU - Fages, Antoine

AU - Seguin-Orlando, Andaine

AU - Germonpre, Mietje

AU - Orlando, Ludovic

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - 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 similar to 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.

AB - 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 similar to 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.

KW - Ancient DNA

KW - Horse

KW - Domestication

KW - Stallions

KW - Mares

KW - Gender bias

KW - Bronze Age

KW - GENOME SEQUENCE

KW - ANCIENT

KW - DOMESTICATION

KW - EVOLUTION

KW - ACCURATE

U2 - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102364

DO - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102364

M3 - Journal article

VL - 31

JO - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

SN - 2352-409X

M1 - 102364

ER -

ID: 247389556