Sites of Southern France

~36,000-29,000 years~ ago

The journey begins at the rock of Solutre located in southern France. This rock was believed to be a slaughtering site. Initially, it was speculated that humans used the ledge of the cliff to send horses over the edge and to their deaths. Later evidence contradicts this view and suggests horse hunts were not likely to have been conducted in such a way but did still occur at the site (American Museum of Natural History, n.d.).

Moving to a neighboring site, the Chauvet and Lascaux caves, we see the first artistic depictions of horses and many other animals, immortalized on the cave walls. These early depictions show humans' interest in the horses whether for sustenance, or another, greater purpose.

Millennia later, around 5,500 years ago, the domestication of horses by the Botai culture in northern Kazakhstan, marked a pivotal transformation. Archaeological evidence from Botai settlements indicates that horses were not only hunted but also herded and probably ridden, as suggested by wear patterns on horse teeth consistent with bit use. This development transformed the horse from a source of meat into a revolutionary means of transportation, effectively becoming a form of "travel technology" that enhanced mobility, trade, and communication, thereby significantly advancing human civilization (Levine, 1999).

Pictured above: Comparison of the Botai “bit wear” specimen (center) with a similar tooth from a Pleistocene wild horse from North America (specimen no MgVo-1: K8-1-2; Canadian Museum of History).