History · domestication
People began keeping horses before the ancestors of today’s domestic horses spread widely. Archaeological finds and DNA recovered from ancient horses help researchers distinguish these stages of domestication.
A 2024 study found evidence of people keeping horses at Botai around 3500 BCE. It places widespread horse travel and controlled breeding of the lineage behind most modern domestic horses much later, around 2200 BCE. The first evidence of horse keeping and the expansion of that lineage therefore describe different events.
This introduction draws on archaeological and ancient DNA studies. Each summary links to the original research so you can read the dates and findings in context.
Librado, P. et al. (2021). Nature. 598, 634–640.
Researchers compared the DNA of 273 ancient horses. They traced the ancestors of modern domestic horses to the western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga–Don region, and their rapid spread from around 2000 BCE.
Librado, P. et al. (2024). Nature. 631(8022), 819–825.
By comparing 475 ancient horse genomes, researchers distinguished early horse keeping at Botai from the later spread of the ancestors of modern domestic horses. They place widespread horse travel around 2200 BCE.
