Re: RE: Equids
William C.Wilson (Wildbill@ilhawaii.net)
Sat, 24 Dec 1994 08:58:43
>There are some thirty 25,000 BP + sites listed in the "Times Atlas of
>Archaeology", Hammond, Maplewood, NJ., 1988, This is a fairly conservative
>reference base.
As I said before, they exist but are not excepted, in most cases there are
problems with the radiometric dating and with the materials found.
>>that the peoples involved are from the north west regions of
OOPS, that should have read northeast regions; your right about the
island chains and eastern siberia region. Although from glacial evidence the
best route is actually inland across the Bering land bridge(sea level was down
upto 100meters) and into Alaska between the Laurentide and Cordellerian
Glaciers. A sea route south of the Aleutians was also possible although
year round ice flows may have made it hazardous.
>The horse domesticaters, @6000 yrs
>>later, were herders on the edge of the Ukrainian plains.
>Actually, although the earliest evidence for the domestication of the
>horse consists of bridles from sites in Siberia, circa 6500 BC,
I believe these sites are actually in Georgia or the Ukraine not in siberia;
there may also be evidence in Mongolia but again this is not Siberia.
Przewalski's Horse, to my knowledge this is the only truly wild (ie never
domesticated) horse left. Of course it isn't that different from the mongolian
ponies, but that was part of the idea.
>Why is this no discouragement to proponents of a land bridge crossing,
>in relation to the peopling of the Americas?
Actually it is, if you look at a map you will find that there is a large
lowland that extends from Siberia, inland of the coastal volcanic arc, across
the Bering sea and into the central part of Alaska. This plain extends as a
plateau into Canada east of the Canadian Rockies.
Cultural Evolution; At 12,000BC the regions of Siberia, Mongolia, Georgia, and
theUkraine were still at the edges of or under the Eurasian ice sheets. the
people were hunter/gatherers and as they moved into the americas they brought
that lifestyle with them. At @8000 the first evidence of domesticated grains
and herbivores (sheep and goats) appears in the Zagros Mtns.(Anatolia/Turkey)
and in the Middle East. This seems to be a response to climatic changes and
population increases. The domestication of the horse seems to be the
continuation of this pattern onto the steppes as the glaciers finish their
retreat and the climates warm. I think this is the same period(@8000-@4000bc)
during which the native americans domesticate corn, potatoes, bananas, and
llamas.
>The Comanchees claim to have stolen horses from the Apaches, whose
>territory was further south. If the reporters of this tale had dared
>to interview the Apaches, I am sure they would have reported stealing horses
>from the Comanchees, whose territory was to the north.
Actually I believe they reported stealing from the Mexicans. Iwas actually
thinking of the northern plains indians (Souix etc.) whose migration from the
great lakes onto the plains is much better documented (1500-1800 AD), and is
the result of their aquiring horses for the first time.
>This would argue against the introduction of the Spanish Andalusian horse to
>the Americas as the progenitor of the lighter mustangs.
Not once the Spanish are present and living in control of Mexico. At that point
they would would probably have brought all their breeds and used them just as
they did in Spain.
William C. Wilson
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