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Did ancient Siberians domesticate horses 50,000 years ago?

By 0 and 0 and 0
04 August 2013

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Experts aim to discover the horses's coat colour as well as how it related to early man. Picture: Media Centre of the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences

The mitochondrial genome of a 50,000-year-old horse has been deciphered in the prehistoric bolt-hole where scientists previously discovered the remains of a now-extinct subspecies of humans who coexisted with the Neanderthals.

Experts at the Novosibirsk-based Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, part of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Scientists, are uncertain so far whether the horses were hunted for game or represent 'an early attempt at equine domestication'.

If further research establishes it to be the latter, it would pre-date the earliest known domestication of horses, in Kazakhstan, by more than 44,000 years. 

The cave is one of the world's most precious sites for research on early man - see our previous stories here. It was famously the site of the discovery of Woman X, whose remains showed her to belong to a subspecies that branched out from Neanderthals around 640,000 years ago. 

Denisova cave Altai

The Denisova cave is one of the world's most precious sites for research on early man; it was famously the site of the discovery of Woman X, whose remains showed her to belong to a subspecies that branched out from Neanderthals around 640,000 years ago 

Body fragments of her and several other members of the now-extinct human population - which interbred with Homo Sapiens - were dated to 40,000 BC.

The Denisova horse's genome is seen as having a 30-percent match for certain populations of modern horses.

This means it can be classed as an ancestor of modern horses. 

Experts aim to discover the horses's coat colour as well as how it related to early man. 

Researcher Anna Druzhkova said: 'These results tell us that ancestors of some of today's horses lived in Altai and never disappeared without a trace'.

Comments (2)

I agree with Michael. It's just too long ago. But, wow, look at those pictures! Imagine our whole planet looking like that, with roving bands of hominids, quiet and green for half a million years.
Robin, California
18/10/2014 07:38
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They probably just had it for lunch.
michael allison, Buckkholts/ Texas.
23/09/2013 09:36
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