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Forum: Stones Forum
Moderated by : Andy B , TimPrevett , coldrum , Klingon , MickM , TheCaptain , bat400 , davidmorgan , Runemage , SolarMegalith , sem
Respond to: Exmoor ponies – The true descendant of Europe’s wild horses?
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coldrum
Joined:
17-09-2002
Messages: 780
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|  New Message Posted!2011-10-23 23:19
Saudis 'find evidence of early horse domestication'
Saudi officials say archaeologists have begun excavating a site that suggests horses were domesticated 9,000 years ago in the Arabian Peninsula.
The vice-president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities said the discovery at al-Maqar challenged the theory it first took place 5,500 years ago in Central Asia.
Ali al-Ghabban said it also changed what was known about the evolution of culture in the late Neolithic period.
A number of artefacts were also found.
They included arrowheads, scrapers, grain grinders, tools for spinning and weaving, and other tools that showed the inhabitants were skilled at handicrafts.
Mr Ghabban said carbon-14 tests on the artefacts, as well as DNA tests on human remains also found there, dated them to about 7,000 BC.
"This discovery will change our knowledge concerning the domestication of horses and the evolution of culture in the late Neolithic period," he told a news conference in Jeddah, according to the Reuters news agency.
"The al-Maqar civilisation is a very advanced civilization of the Neolithic period. This site shows us clearly, the roots of the domestication of horses 9,000 years ago," he added.
Although humans came into contact with horses about 50,000 years ago, they were originally herded for meat, skins, and possibly for milk.
The first undisputed evidence for their domestication dates back to 2,000 BC, when horses were buried with chariots. By 1,000 BC, domestication had spread through Europe, Asia and North Africa.
However, researchers have found evidence suggesting that the animals were used by the Botai culture in northern Kazakhstan 5,500 years ago.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14658678
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coldrum
Joined:
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Messages: 780
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| New Message Posted!2011-10-23 22:03
Ancient wild horses help unlock past
An international team of researchers has used ancient DNA to produce compelling evidence that the lack of genetic diversity in modern stallions is the result of the domestication process.
The team, which was led by Professor Michi Hofreiter from the University of York, UK, has carried out the first study on Y chromosomal DNA sequences from extinct ancient wild horses and found an abundance of diversity.
The results, which are published in Nature Communications, suggest the almost complete absence of genetic diversity in modern male horses is not based on properties intrinsic to wild horses, but on the domestication process itself.
Professor Hofreiter said: "Unlike modern female domestic horses where there is plenty of diversity, genetic diversity in male horses is practically zero.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-08/uoy-awh082211.php
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coldrum
Joined:
17-09-2002
Messages: 780
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| New Message Posted!2011-10-23 22:02
Wild horses for Europe - which breed is the best?
August 2011. European grasslands have belonged to wild horses for thousands of years, but with the arrival of human hunters and, later on, farmers, wild horses were pushed from most parts of Europe. They had to give way to their domestic relatives. In some areas domestic and wild horses lived side by side for thousands of years. But ultimately, the story of European Wild horses came to a bad end.
Extinct in 1905
The last horse that was from supposedly wild stock died in 1905 in the Moscow's zoo. It was a Tarpan, the steppe horse from southern Russia and Ukraine, and later the name Tarpan was falsely given to all European wild horses.
Europe ‘incomplete' without wild horses
Without wild horses European nature is incomplete, and so experts are now preparing to bring back this key species. But which breed is the best choice for Europe when the last original wild horse died more than one hundred years ago?
Just like when searching for a substitute for the aurochs, the greatest hopes come from primitive breeds of domestic horse breeds. For several decades, the Polish Konik horse was considered to be the best candidate.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/exmoor-ponies011.html
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