The Pre-History of the Horse
The ancient civilizations (from
Middle East) which - after the nomadic horsemen - were the first
organized societies to use the horse and the first communities to leave
written accounts about the played by the horses in their lives.
No contemporaneous documents exist from Europe north or west of Greece. This lack of information leads to the serious risks of errors arising from undue generalizations: like the unacceptable extension of facts, tendencies or phenomena, verified in one region, to others near or far, where in fact the events did not take place at all, or came about with much less intensity and at later time.
Unfortunately there are far less studies and literature about Iberian archaeology compared to the Eurasian ones. This maybe the main reason for the large number of generalization in many authors on texts about Iberian pre-history, e.g. some events that happened north of the Pyrenees and had little orno effect in Spain and/or Portugal. On the other hand, some events that began in other areas of Eurasia, and had important effects in Iberia are underestimated or totally forgotten.
No contemporaneous documents exist from Europe north or west of Greece. This lack of information leads to the serious risks of errors arising from undue generalizations: like the unacceptable extension of facts, tendencies or phenomena, verified in one region, to others near or far, where in fact the events did not take place at all, or came about with much less intensity and at later time.
Unfortunately there are far less studies and literature about Iberian archaeology compared to the Eurasian ones. This maybe the main reason for the large number of generalization in many authors on texts about Iberian pre-history, e.g. some events that happened north of the Pyrenees and had little orno effect in Spain and/or Portugal. On the other hand, some events that began in other areas of Eurasia, and had important effects in Iberia are underestimated or totally forgotten.
Ancestral Horses, from evolution to 6000 BC
The genus Equus evolved in North America, arrived to Eurasia during the Final Pliocene (between 2 and 5 million years ago).
Theories about the separate families
of wild horse came are still controversial. However, the most known
theory is the Ebhardt's [Hermann Ebhardt, a horse breeder from Hamburg,
devised his theory in the early 20th century and his classifications
are quoted widely. See for example Colin P.Groves, Horses, Asses and Zebras in the Wild (Newton Abbot, 1974), Hardy Oelke, Born Survivors on the Eve of Extinction] - it distinguishes 4 primitive origins,
types (I-IV) of ancestral horse: I - the northern pony (Equus ferus); II - the great northern horse (Equus wordrichii); III - the Eurasian horse (Equus germanicus); IV - the Asian horse (Equus lybicus).
Uerpmann [H.P.Uerpmann, Die Domestikation des Pferdes im Chakolithikum West und Mittleeuropas (Madrider Mitteilungen, 1990)] proposes a more modern theory: 4 geographically separated sub-species: 1 - Equus ferus ferus - the steppe horse; 2 - Equus ferus sylvestris - the northern European horse; 3 - Equus ferus lusitanicus - the Iberian horse; 4 - Equus ferus scynthicus
- the horse from the Black Sea. This theory would support the abundance
of equines in Iberia as well as the thesis that equitation - the art of
horse riding - was born in Iberian Peninsula and spread from there to
the rest of Europe.
The existence of two types of horse -
one heavy and one refined - is a constant from the Palaeolithic
to historical times in all Eurasia.
There are no older archaeological
evidence than the depiction of wild horses in the cave and rock art of
Iberia, e.g. Côa Valley - Portugal, rock art depicting three horses,
from c.30 000 BC.
The 5 important migrations in pre-historic horses
1 - At the end of the last Ice Age, about 10 000 years ago during the Mesolithic -
wild horses were forced to move eastwards by the regrowth of the forest
on their pasturelands of southwestern Europe. The only "true" migration
where whole populations moved their habitats.
2 - During the Neolithic (4500-2500 BC), part of the so-called "Asia Minor Package", took place in the opposite direction, from east to west, with the diffusion of agriculture. Did not have much impact in Iberia as there was vigorous indigineous resistance to new techniques and values of the new agriculture. Iberian people already had some basic knowledge of domestic horse and equitation.
3 - Around 3000 BC, "Battle-Axe" peoples, the Indo-Europeans from southern Russia, invaded Eastern Europe, the Pontic-Caspian regions and Asia-Minor. They are the agents of spreading the equitation and "quality horses" across these regions.
4 - C.2500 BC "Bell-Beaker" phenomenom. It is believed that these peoples started from Portugal and following the Atlantic coast, reached the British Isles and Germany and from went up the Rhine to the Danube valley. They spread the equitation, already well spread in Iberia, as well as "horses of quality". On the return they brought back to Iberia new techniques and horses of Eastern origins as well as crossess between the 2 strains.
5 - Horses and chariots were introduced by Indo-Europeans to Asia Minor during the third Millenium and taken to Egypt by the conquering Hyksos in 1750 BC. Cavalry appeared as a war weapon around 1200 BC when the so-called "Sea Peoples" destroyed the ancient Minoan and Mycenean civilizations as well as those of Asia Minor. Horses were taken to Libya to invade Egypt and were beaten by Ramses III. These people may have introduced agriculture and ridden horses in Iberia, many centuries before the Greek and the Phoenician colonization.
2 - During the Neolithic (4500-2500 BC), part of the so-called "Asia Minor Package", took place in the opposite direction, from east to west, with the diffusion of agriculture. Did not have much impact in Iberia as there was vigorous indigineous resistance to new techniques and values of the new agriculture. Iberian people already had some basic knowledge of domestic horse and equitation.
3 - Around 3000 BC, "Battle-Axe" peoples, the Indo-Europeans from southern Russia, invaded Eastern Europe, the Pontic-Caspian regions and Asia-Minor. They are the agents of spreading the equitation and "quality horses" across these regions.
4 - C.2500 BC "Bell-Beaker" phenomenom. It is believed that these peoples started from Portugal and following the Atlantic coast, reached the British Isles and Germany and from went up the Rhine to the Danube valley. They spread the equitation, already well spread in Iberia, as well as "horses of quality". On the return they brought back to Iberia new techniques and horses of Eastern origins as well as crossess between the 2 strains.
5 - Horses and chariots were introduced by Indo-Europeans to Asia Minor during the third Millenium and taken to Egypt by the conquering Hyksos in 1750 BC. Cavalry appeared as a war weapon around 1200 BC when the so-called "Sea Peoples" destroyed the ancient Minoan and Mycenean civilizations as well as those of Asia Minor. Horses were taken to Libya to invade Egypt and were beaten by Ramses III. These people may have introduced agriculture and ridden horses in Iberia, many centuries before the Greek and the Phoenician colonization.
Wild Horses
Once a certain species
has been named by its discoverer, that particular name will continue to
be used; all subsequent subspecies will be designated by that generic
name plus a second specific word that will identify it as a latterly
discovered subspecies. The first wild horses was called Equus przewalskii - A denomination general for all wild horses regardless their origin.
The Tarpan (South Russia's wild horse) was identified later and was called Equus przewalskii gmelinii. The original Mongolian wild horse is often referred as Equus przewalskii przewalskii to avoid confusion with other wild Equus przewalskii. Equus przewalskii has 66 chromosomes, domestic horse 64, onagers 54 or 56, asses 62 and zebras 46 and 44. Crosses between these different species are infertile hybrids; Tarpans and Przewalski horses have produced fertile offspring with domestic and in crosses between each other.
There is a clear indication , from all sources, of the existence of at least two different types of wild horse in Western Europe since the Palaeolithic as they are abundantly represented in Palaeolithic art. One type looks like the heavier Przewalski wild horse and was the most commonly represented. The other, a more refined one, is seen mostly on the Iberian side of the Pyrenees and the southern part of the Peninsula.
The first horse to domesticated in the Iberian Peninsula was the Type I pony from the northern mountains of Portugal, the garrano (or jaca in Spanish). This heavy small horse, that still exists today almost unchanged in the cold and humid northern Iberian mountains, is not the same as the bigger animal from the south of the Peninsula that became known as the "Iberian Horse".
Spread over the whole of the Atlantic coast and Southwestern Europe around 3000BC. - The most probable agents of the diffusion of equitation in Western Europe.
When they moved northwards (Portugal -> England and Germany etc.) and thus disseminated riding techniques and when returning they brought improvements learned from the Steppe people. These movements also opened and increased the horse traffic from the Iberia to Northern and Central Europe and vice-versa. - Explains the similarities and almost certain blood relationship between the Iberian and the Turkoman horse.
What ever the theory of each author; all the different authors agree on one point: an ancient nucleus of domesticated and ridden horses existed in Iberia; either locally developed or imported from other Asian or European origins, long before many other centres of equine culture, wrongly named as the sources of these techniques even existed.
It is suggested that the equitation anticipated traction. Equids were first domesticated for human consumption and only later for work. Beginning with bovines, followed by onagers and asses and lastly by equines. Equines, which although much easier to teach and docile of character, did not have the physical size and power necessary for traction or equitation. It was selection by primitive man that finally produced the "modern" horse, fit to work.
Camelid and equid domestication began around 5th Millenium BC, simultaneously in Egypt and Arabia for camels and from Russia to Turkestan for equids.
The Tarpan (South Russia's wild horse) was identified later and was called Equus przewalskii gmelinii. The original Mongolian wild horse is often referred as Equus przewalskii przewalskii to avoid confusion with other wild Equus przewalskii. Equus przewalskii has 66 chromosomes, domestic horse 64, onagers 54 or 56, asses 62 and zebras 46 and 44. Crosses between these different species are infertile hybrids; Tarpans and Przewalski horses have produced fertile offspring with domestic and in crosses between each other.
There is a clear indication , from all sources, of the existence of at least two different types of wild horse in Western Europe since the Palaeolithic as they are abundantly represented in Palaeolithic art. One type looks like the heavier Przewalski wild horse and was the most commonly represented. The other, a more refined one, is seen mostly on the Iberian side of the Pyrenees and the southern part of the Peninsula.
The first horse to domesticated in the Iberian Peninsula was the Type I pony from the northern mountains of Portugal, the garrano (or jaca in Spanish). This heavy small horse, that still exists today almost unchanged in the cold and humid northern Iberian mountains, is not the same as the bigger animal from the south of the Peninsula that became known as the "Iberian Horse".
The Bell Beakers
Spread over the whole of the Atlantic coast and Southwestern Europe around 3000BC. - The most probable agents of the diffusion of equitation in Western Europe.
When they moved northwards (Portugal -> England and Germany etc.) and thus disseminated riding techniques and when returning they brought improvements learned from the Steppe people. These movements also opened and increased the horse traffic from the Iberia to Northern and Central Europe and vice-versa. - Explains the similarities and almost certain blood relationship between the Iberian and the Turkoman horse.
What ever the theory of each author; all the different authors agree on one point: an ancient nucleus of domesticated and ridden horses existed in Iberia; either locally developed or imported from other Asian or European origins, long before many other centres of equine culture, wrongly named as the sources of these techniques even existed.
It is suggested that the equitation anticipated traction. Equids were first domesticated for human consumption and only later for work. Beginning with bovines, followed by onagers and asses and lastly by equines. Equines, which although much easier to teach and docile of character, did not have the physical size and power necessary for traction or equitation. It was selection by primitive man that finally produced the "modern" horse, fit to work.
Camelid and equid domestication began around 5th Millenium BC, simultaneously in Egypt and Arabia for camels and from Russia to Turkestan for equids.
