Humans have been riding horses for 5,000 years, history of migration could change

JAKARTA - The relationship between humans and horses is older than previously thought. Citing The Independent report, Friday, May 15, a new study found evidence of the use of horses by humans is estimated to have occurred about 5,000 years ago.

The findings of the University of Helsinki team, published in the journal Science Advances, push back the history of human-horse relationships by at least 1,300 years.

Previously, wild horses were estimated to have begun to be domesticated around 2200-2100 BC. However, recent research suggests that the process has been going on for about 3500-3000 BC, possibly even earlier.

"Horses were ridden, used for work, and traded long before what has been considered possible," the researchers wrote.

The team examined DNA, archaeological finds, and horse bones to reconstruct the long history of human-animal relationships.

As a result, horse taming is not a one-time event. The process is slow, intermittent, and occurs in many regions before full domestication emerges by 2000 BC.

The research found three different populations of horses once lived from western Siberia to Central Europe. Attempts to domesticate horses also occurred separately in several regions.

Professor Volker Heyd, one of the research leaders, said the findings changed the way scientists read human history.

"Horses were already widely used and quite sophisticated even before full domestication really happened," said Heyd.

The study also links the early use of horses to the migration of the Yamnaya people from the region of modern Russia and Ukraine to Europe and Asia around 3100 BC.

This migration is said to be one of the biggest changes in the origin of the European population over the past 5,000 years.

According to researchers, the ability to ride a horse accelerated the movement of humans up to about 5,000 kilometers across Eurasia. Along with the movement, the wheel technology and the possibility of early Indo-European languages spread.

At that time, the cow was still pulling the cart. But the horse gave a new speed. Humans could move far in a matter of hours, not days.

"Horses carry humans. With them, words spread," the research team wrote.

Heyd said the role of horses in human history is almost too big to measure.

"There is a saying that the world is conquered from the saddle of a horse," he said.

This finding shows that horses are not just a means of transport. The animal also helped accelerate the movement of people, trade, and the spread of language in Eurasia.