Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T10:46:14.356Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Origins of Domestic Horses in North-west Europe: new Direct Dates on the Horses of Newgrange, Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2013

Robin Bendrey ,
Nick Thorpe ,
Alan Outram  and
Louise H. van Wijngaarden-Bakker
Robin Bendrey
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Whiteknights Box 226, Reading, RG6 6AB, UK
Nick Thorpe
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Winchester, Winchester SO22 4NR, UK
Alan Outram
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QE, UK
Louise H. van Wijngaarden-Bakker
Affiliation:
Amsterdam Archaeological Center, University of Amsterdam, Turfdraagsterpad 9, 1012 XT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Email: r.bendrey@reading.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents direct radiocarbon measurements on horse skeletal remains from the Beaker period settlement at the site of Newgrange in Ireland, finds which have previously been argued as the earliest domestic horses in Ireland. The new determinations date the horse remains to the Irish Iron Age and shed important new light on the introduction of domestic horses to Ireland and to north-west Europe more generally. Although the new dates undermine the idea for the introduction of horses as part of a ‘Beaker package’, the early use of horse is not well defined archaeologically or chronologically and the earliest use of domestic horses in Ireland and Britain is still uncertain. This paper also identifies evidence for heavy bitting damage on the Iron Age Newgrange horse teeth and presents some possible parallels between the evidence from Newgrange and that at Tara, which has been previously linked with kingship rituals

Résumé

Origines du cheval domestique dans le nord-ouest de l'Europe:nouvelles datations directes des chevaux de Newgrange, Irlande, de Robin Bendrey, Nick Thorpe, Alan Outram et Louise H van Wijngaarden-Bakker

Cet article discute les mesures au C14 directes effectuées sur les restes d'un squelette de cheval d'une occupation de la période Beaker sur le site de Newgrange, en Irlande; trouvailles qui sont, a-t-on argumenté dans le passé, les plus anciens chevaux domestiques d'Irlande. Les nouvelles déterminations datent les restes de ce cheval de l’âge du fer irlandais et jettent une importante nouvelle lumière sur l'introduction des chevaux domestiques en Irlande et, plus généralement, dans l'Europe du Nord-ouest. Bien que les nouvelles datations sapent l'idée que l'introduction des chevaux faisait partie d'un ‘lot Beaker’, le début de leur utilisation n'est pas bien défini archéologiquement, ni chronologiquement, et la plus ancienne utilisation des chevaux domestiques en Irlande et en Grande-Bretagne reste aléatoire. Nous présentons des témoignages de gros dégâts de mors sur les dents du cheval de l’âge du fer de Newgrange et discutons de possibles parallèles entre les témoignages de Newgrange et ceux de Tara, associés dans le passé à des rituels royaux

Zussamenfassung

Die Herkunft domestizierter Pferde in Nordwesteuropa: Neue direkte Daten zu den Pferden von Newgrange, Irland, von Robin Bendrey, Nick Thorpe, Alan Outram und Louise H. van Wijngaarden-Bakker

Dieser Beitrag diskutiert direkte Radiokarbonmessungen, die an Skelettfunden von becherzeitlichen Pferden aus Newgrange in Irland vorgenommen wurden; diese Funde wurden bisher als die ältesten domestizierten Pferde in Irland angesehen. Die neuen Daten datieren die Pferdefunde in die irische Eisenzeit und werfen neues und aufschlussreiches Licht auf die Einführung domestizierter Pferde nach Irland und generell nach Nordwesteuropa. Zwar stellen die neuen Daten die Vorstellung der Einführung von Pferden als Teil des ,,Glockenbecherphänomens“ in Frage, jedoch ist die frühe Nutzung von domestizierten Pferden weder archäologisch noch chronologisch besonders gut geklärt, und ihre früheste Nutzung in Irland und Großbritannien muss noch immer als unsicher gelten. Hinweise auf starke Abnutzung der Zähne der eisenzeitlichen Pferde aus Newgrange wird in diesem Beitrag ebenso diskutiert wie mögliche Parallelen zwischen den Beobachtungen in Newgrange und solchen in Tara, die bisher mit Königsritualen in Verbindung gebracht wurden

Resumen

Los orígenes de los caballos domésticos en el noroeste de Europa: nuevas dataciones directas sobre los caballos de Newgrange, Irlanda, por Robin Bendrey, Nick Thorpe, Alan Outram y Louise H van Wijngaarden-Bakker

Este artículo discute las mediciones directas de radiocarbono realizadas sobre restos esqueléticos de caballos, procedentes del asentamiento de época campaniforme del yacimiento de Newgrange en Irlanda; hallazgos que previamente se han considerado los caballos domésticos más antiguos de Irlanda. Las nuevas dataciones adscriben los restos de caballo a la Edad del Hierro y arrojan nuevos datos sobre la introducción de los caballos domésticos en Irlanda y, en general, en el noroeste de Europa. Aunque las nuevas dataciones debilitan la idea de la introducción de los caballos como parte del “paquete campaniforme”, su uso en momentos más antiguos no está bien definido arqueológica o cronológicamente y la primera utilización de los caballos domésticos en Irlanda e Inglaterra es aún incierta. Se presentan evidencias de daño óseo causado por mordeduras en los dientes de caballo de la Edad del Hierro de Newgrange y se discuten algunos posibles paralelismos entre las evidencias de Newgrange y las de Tara, que se han relacionado con “rituales de la realeza”

Keywords

domestic horseIrelandNewgrangeBeaker periodIron Ageradiocarbon dating
Type
Articles
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 79 , December 2013 , pp. 91 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albarella, U. 1999. The animal economy after the eruption of Avellino pumice: the case of La Starza (Avellino, southern Italy). In C.A. Livadie (ed.), L'Eruzione Vesuviana Delle “Pomici di Avellino” e la facies de Palma Campania (Bronzo antico), 317–330. Bari: EdipugliaGoogle Scholar
Ambrose, S.H. 1990. Preparation and characterization of bone and tooth collagen for isotopic analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 17, 431–451CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armour-Chelu, M. 1998. The animal bone. In F. Pryor, Etton, Excavations at a Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure near Maxey, Cambridgeshire, 1982–7, 273–288. London: English HeritageGoogle Scholar
Anthony, D.W. 2007. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language. Princeton: Princeton University PressGoogle Scholar
Anthony, D., Brown, D. 2011. The Secondary Products Revolution, horse-riding, and mounted warfare. Journal of World Prehistory 24, 131–160CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arbogast, R.-M., Clavel, B., Lepetz, S., Méniel, P., Yvinec, J.-H. 2002. Archéologie du Cheval: des origines à la période moderne en France. Paris: Editions ErranceGoogle Scholar
Bendrey, R. 2007a. The Development of New Methodologies for Studying the Horse: case studies from prehistoric southern England. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of SouthamptonGoogle Scholar
Bendrey, R. 2007b. New methods for the identification of evidence for bitting on horse remains from archaeological sites. Journal of Archaeological Science 34, 1036–1050CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bendrey, R. 2007c. Work- and age-related changes in an Iron Age horse skeleton from Danebury hillfort, Hampshire. Archaeofauna 16, 73–84Google Scholar
Bendrey, R. 2008. An early domestic horse find from Chalk Hill, Ramsgate? Canterbury's Archaeology (Canterbury Archaeological Trust Annual Report) 31, 44Google Scholar
Bendrey, R. 2010. The horse. In T. O'Connor & N. Sykes (eds), Extinctions and Invasions: a social history of British fauna, 10–16. Oxford: Windgather PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bendrey, R. 2011. Identification of metal residues associated with bit-use on prehistoric horse teeth by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 38, 2989–2994CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bendrey, R. 2012. From wild horses to domestic horses: a European perspective. World Archaeology 44, 135–157CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bendrey, R., Leach, S., Clark, K.M. 2010. New light on an old rite: reanalysis of an Iron Age burial group from Blewburton Hill, Oxfordshire. In J. Morris & J.M. Maltby (eds), Integrating Social and Environmental Archaeologies; Reconsidering Deposition, 33–44. Oxford: British Archaeological Report S2077Google Scholar
Benecke, N. 2006. Late prehistoric exploitation of horses in central Germany and neighboring areas – the archaeozoological record. In S.L. Olsen, S. Grant, A. Choyke & L. Bartosiewicz (eds), Horses and Humans: the evolution of the human-equine relationship, 195–208. Oxford: British Archaeological Report S1560Google Scholar
Blaise, E 2010. Economie animale et gestion des troupeaux au Néolithique final en Provence: approche archéozoologique et contribution des analyses isotopiques de l’émail dentaire. Oxford: British Archaeological Report S2080Google Scholar
Bökönyi, S. 1978. The earliest waves of domestic horses in East Europe. Journal of Indo-European Studies 6, 17–73Google Scholar
Bradley, R. 2007. The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51, 337–360CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C., Higham, T.H.F., Owen, D.C., Pike, A.W.G., Hedges, R.E.M. 2002. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 31. Archaeometry 44, 1–149CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, D., Anthony, D. 1998. Bit wear, horseback riding and the Botai site in Kazakstan. Journal of Archaeological Science 25, 331–347CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burleigh, R., Currant, A., Jacobi, E., Jacobi, R. 1991. A note on some British Late Pleistocene remains of horse (Equus ferus). In Meadow & Uerpmann (eds) 1991, 233–7Google Scholar
Carlin, N., Brück, J. 2012. Searching for the Chalcolithic: continuity and change in the Irish Final Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. In M.J. Allen, J.P. Gardiner & A. Sheridan (eds), Is There a British Chalcolithic?, 193–210. Oxford: Prehistoric Society Research Papers 4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carson, R.A.G., O'Kelly, C. 1977. A catalogue of the Roman coins from Newgrange, Co. Meath, and notes on the coins and related finds. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 77C, 35–55Google Scholar
Charles-Edwards, T. 2000. Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cieslak, M., Pruvost, M., Benecke, N., Hofreiter, M., Morales, A., Reissmann, M., Ludwig, A. 2010. Origin and history of mitochondrial DNA lineages in domestic horses. PLoS ONE 5(12), e15311. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015311CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, D.V. 1976. The Neolithic Village at Skara Brae, Orkney 1972–73 Excavations: an interim report. Edinburgh: Department of the Environment/HMSOGoogle Scholar
Clutton-Brock, J., Burleigh, R. 1991a. The mandible of a Mesolithic horse from Seamer Carr, Yorkshire, England. In Meadow & Uerpmann (eds) 1991, 238–41Google Scholar
Clutton-Brock, J., Burleigh, R. 1991b. The skull of a Neolithic horse from Grime's Graves, Norfolk, England. In Meadow & Uerpmann (eds) 1991, 242–9Google Scholar
Coffey, G. 1906. Two finds of Late Bronze Age objects. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 25C, 14–20Google Scholar
Cooney, G. 2006. Newgrange – a view from the platform. Antiquity 80, 697–710CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creighton, J.D. 1995. Visions of power: imagery and symbols in late Iron Age Britain. Britannia 26, 285–301CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doherty, C. 2005. Kingship in Early Ireland. In E. Bhreathnach (ed.), The Kingship and Landscape of Tara, 3–31. Dublin: Four Courts Press/Discovery Programme MonographGoogle Scholar
Dowling, G. 2006. The liminal boundary: an analysis of the sacral potency of the ditch at Ráith na Ríg, Tara. Co. Meath. Journal of Irish Archaeology 15, 15–37Google Scholar
Eriksen, P. 2008. The great mound of Newgrange: an Irish multi-period mound spanning from the megalithic tomb period to the Early Bronze Age. Acta Archaeologica 79, 250–273CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finlay, J. 2006. Faunal remains. In D.D.A. Simpson, E.M. Murphy & R.A. Gregory, Excavations at Northton, Isle of Harris, 147–149. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 408Google Scholar
Grayson, D.K. 1984. Quantitative Zooarchaeology: topics in the analysis of archaeological faunas. Orlando: Academic PressGoogle Scholar
Grigson, C. 1966. The animal remains from Fussells's Lodge long barrow. Archaeologia 100, 63–73Google Scholar
Grogan, E. 2008. The Rath of the Synods, Tara, Co. Meath: excavations by Seán P. O Ríordáin. Dublin: Wordwell/UCD School of ArchaeologyGoogle Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Housley, R.A., Bronk, C.R., Klinken, G.J. van. 1990. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 11. Archaeometry 32(2), 211–237CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Housley, R.A., Bronk, C.R., Klinken, G.J. van. 1993. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 16. Archaeometry 35(1), 147–167CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Housley, R.A., Bronk, C.R., Klinken, G.J. van. 1996. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 21. Archaeometry 38(1), 181–207CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, R.E.M., Pettitt, P.B., Bronk Ramsey, C., Klinken, G.J. van. 1997. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 24. Archaeometry 39(2), 445–471CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heyd, V. 2007. Families, prestige goods, warriors and complex societies: Beaker groups and the 3rd millennium cal BC. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 73, 327–380CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higham, T.F.G., Bronk Ramsey, C., Brock, F., Baker, D., Ditchfield, P. 2007. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry datelist 32. Archaeometry 49, S1–S60CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaagan, L.M. 2000. The Horse in Late Pleistocene and Holocene Britain. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University College LondonGoogle Scholar
King, A. 2005. Animal remains from temples in Roman Britain. Britannia 36, 329–370CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Legge, A.J. 1992. Excavations at Grimes Graves Norfolk 1972–1976. Fascicule 4: animals, environment and the Bronze Age economy. London: British Museum PressGoogle Scholar
Levine, M.A. 1982. The use of crown height measurements and eruption-wear sequences to age horse teeth. In B. Wilson, C. Grigson & S. Payne (eds), Ageing and Sexing Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites, 223–250. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 109Google Scholar
Levine, M.A. 1996. Domestication of the horse. In B.M. Fagan, C. Beck, G. Michaels, C. Scarre & N.A. Silberman (eds), The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, 315–317. New York: Oxford University PressGoogle Scholar
Levine, M.A., Whitwell, K.E., Jeffcott, L.B. 2002. A Romano-British horse burial from Icklingham, Suffolk. Archaeofauna 11, 63–102Google Scholar
Liesau, C. 2005. Arqueozoología del caballo en la antigua Iberia. Gladius 25, 187–206Google Scholar
Lira, J., Linderholm, A., Olaria, C., Brandström, M.D., Gilbert, M.T.P., Ellegren, H., Willerslev, E., Lidén, K., Arsuaga, J.L., Götherström, A. 2010. Ancient DNA reveals traces of Iberian Neolithic and Bronze Age lineages in modern Iberian horses. Molecular Ecology 19, 64–78CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ludwig, A., Pruvost, M., Reissmann, M., Benecke, N., Brockmann, G.A., Castaños, P., Cieslak, M., Lippold, S., Llorente, L., Malaspinas, A.-S., Slatkin, M., Hofreiter, M. 2009. Coat color variation at the beginning of horse domestication. Science 324, 485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyman, R.L. 1995. Determining when rare (zoo)- archaeological phenomena are truly absent. Journal of Archaeological Method & Theory 2(4), 369–424CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCormick, F. 2002. The animal bones from Tara. Discovery Programme Reports 6, 103–116Google Scholar
McCormick, F. 2007a. The horse in early Ireland. Anthropozoologica 42, 85–104Google Scholar
McCormick, F. 2007b. Mammal bone studies from prehistoric Irish sites. In E.M. Murphy & N.J. Whitehouse (eds), Environmental Archaeology in Ireland, 77–101. Oxford: Oxbow BooksGoogle Scholar
McCormick, F., Murray, E.V. 2007. Knowth and the Zooarchaeology of Early Christian Ireland. Dublin: Royal Irish AcademyGoogle Scholar
Meadow, R.H., Uerpmann, H.-P. (eds) 1991. Equids in the Ancient World. Volume II. Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichert VerlagGoogle Scholar
Morris, J. 2011. Investigating Animal Burials: ritual, mundane and beyond. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 535CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mount, C. 1994. Aspects of ritual deposition in the Late Neolithic and Beaker Periods at Newgrange, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 60, 433–443CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ó Floinn, R. 2000. Freestone Hill, Co. Kilkenny: a reassessment. In A.P. Smyth (ed.), Seanchas: studies in early and medieval Irish archaeology, history and literature in honour of Francis J. Byrne, 12–29. Dublin: Four Courts PressGoogle Scholar
O'Kelly, M., Cleary, R., Lehane, D. 1983. Newgrange, Co. Meath, Ireland. The Late Neolithic/Beaker Period Settlement. Oxford: British Archaeological Report S190CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olsen, S.L. 1994. Exploitation of mammals at the Early Bronze Age site of West Row Fen (Mildenhall 165), Suffolk, England. Annals of Carnegie Museum 63, 115–153CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olsen, S.L. 2006. Early horse domestication: weighing the evidence. In S.L. Olsen, S. Grant, A.M. Choyke & L. Bartosiewicz (eds), Horses and Humans: the evolution of human-equine relationships, 81–113. Oxford: British Archaeological Report S1560CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Outram, A., Stear, N., Bendrey, R., Olsen, S., Kasparov, A., Zaibert, V., Thorpe, N., Evershed, R. 2009. The earliest horse harnessing and milking. Science 323, 1332–1335CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Payne, S. 1991. Early Holocene equids from Tall-I-Mushki (Iran) and Can Hasan III (Turkey). In Meadow & Uerpmann (eds), 1991, 132–64.Google Scholar
Preece, R.C. 1995. Island Britain: a Quaternary perspective. London: Geological SocietyGoogle Scholar
Roche, H. 2002. Excavations at Ráith na Ríg, Tara, Co. Meath, 1997. Discovery Programme Reports 6, 19–82Google Scholar
Russell, M., Rudling, D. 1996. Excavations at Whitehawk Neolithic enclosure, Brighton, East Sussex, 1991–1993. Sussex Archaeological Collections 134, 39–61Google Scholar
Sherratt, A. 1997. Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe. Princeton: Princeton University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smyth, J. (ed.) 2009. Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site Research Framework. Dublin: Heritage CouncilGoogle Scholar
Sommer, R.S., Benecke, N., Lõugas, L., Nelle, O., Schmölcke, U. 2011. Holocene survival of the wild horse in Europe: a matter of open landscape? Journal of Quaternary Science 26, 805–812CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, R.E., Hedges, R.E.M. 2004. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of northwest European horse bone and tooth collagen, 40,000 BP–present: Palaeoclimatic interpretations. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, 977–991CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stout, G. 2002. Newgrange and the Bend of the Boyne. Cork: Cork University PressGoogle Scholar
Thorpe, I.J.N. 2006. Fighting and feuding in Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain and Ireland. In T. Otto, H. Thrane & H. Vandkilde (eds), Warfare and Society. Archaeological and Social Anthropological Perspectives, 141–166. Århus: Århus University PressGoogle Scholar
Uerpmann, H.-P. 1990. Die domestication des pferdes im Chalkolithikum west- und mitteleuropas. Madrider Mitteilungen 31, 109–153Google Scholar
Uerpmann, H.-P. 1995. Domestication of the horse – when, where, and why? In L. Bodson (ed.), Le cheval et les autres équidés: aspects de l'histoire de leur insertion dans les activités humaines (Colloques d'histoire des connaissances zoologiques 6), 15–29. Liège: Université de LiègeGoogle Scholar
Warmuth, V., Eriksson, A., Bower, M.A., Cañon, J., Cothran, G., Distl, O., Glowatzki-Mullis, M.-L., Hunt, H., Luís, C., Oom, M.M., Tupac Yupanqui, I., Ząbek, T., Manica, A. 2011. European domestic horses originated in two Holocene refugia. PLoS ONE 6(3), e18194. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018194CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whittle, A., Healy, F., Bayliss, A. 2011. Gathering Time: dating the Early Neolithic enclosures of southern Britain and Ireland. Oxford: Oxbow BooksCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wijngaarden-Bakker, L.H. van. 1974. The animal remains from the Beaker settlement at Newgrange, Co. Meath – first report. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 74C, 313–385Google Scholar
Wijngaarden-Bakker, L.H. van. 1975. Horses in the Dutch Neolithic. In A.T. Clason (ed.), Archaeozoological Studies, 341–344. New York: American ElsevierGoogle Scholar
Wijngaarden-Bakker, L.H. van. 1986. The animal remains from the Beaker settlement at Newgrange, Co. Meath: Final report. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 86C, 17–111Google Scholar
Woodman, P., McCarthy, M., Monaghan, N. 1997. The Irish Quaternary Fauna Project. Quaternary Science Reviews 16, 129–159CrossRefGoogle Scholar