THE steppes of Kazakhstan may be where a human first decided to climb onto a horse, creating the earliest form of land transport.
鈥淗orse domestication was a landmark, a bit like the invention of the wheel,鈥� says of the University of Exeter in the UK.
Outram and colleagues found 鈥渉orse farms鈥� in Kazakhstan鈥檚 , dated to 3500 BC, pushing back the domestication of horses by 1000 years.
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The team studied bones from four settlements. More than 90 per cent were horse bones, and wear on the animals鈥� teeth shows that they wore bits and bridles.
The team also found traces of equine milk fat on pottery vessels, implying that the Botai people milked their horses.