Re: Equids
Pete Vincent (VINCENT@TRIUMF.CA)
24 Dec 1994 22:43:17 GMT
In <3dgen4$l20@cville-srv.wam.umd.edu> tara@wam.umd.edu writes:
` Pete Vincent <VINCENT@TRIUMF.CA> wrote:
` >whittet@shore.net writes:
` >`
` >` Actually, although the earliest evidence for the domestication of the
` >` horse consists of bridles from sites in Siberia, circa 6500 BC
` >
` >You keep mentioning this siberian evidence. I've never heard of it.
` >Siberia is not exactly a useful place for horses, being all bogs
` >and conifer forest. The earliest evidence of which I'm aware is
` >from the steppes of the ukraine, which makes much more sense.
` >What's your reference for this siberian material?
`
` What about the Yakut? It is a modern day horse currently living in the
` "coldest" areas of the Yakut territory in the Arctic circle. There are
` two types of this pony (basically a larger one and a smaller one). Now
` the larger one is considered a direct derivative of the Asiatic Wild
` Horse of Mongolia, but the ancestry of the smaller one is not as clear.
`
` The Yakut exists in winter temperatures of -40 to -50 degrees Farenheit
` and in the summer (albeit a very short one) suffer the attacks of
` blood-sucking insects. Not my type of clime. ;)
I wasn't disputing the existence of horses there, but their
domestication, and particularly their use as mounts.. The open
plains of the ukraine would be a much more practical place for
equine transportation. In siberia, I don't imagine a mounted
traveller would have any advantage over one on foot, although the
horse could possibly still be useful as a pack animal. The early
bridles of which I'm aware were uncovered in the ukraine.
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vincent@triumf.ca <== faster % Pete Vincent
vincent@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca % Disclaimer: all I know I
% learned from reading Usenet.
|