Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies
William Taylor, Pablo Librado, Mila Hunska Tašunke Icu, Carlton Shield Chief Gover, Jimmy Arterberry, Anpetu Luta Wiƞ, Akil Nujipi, Tanka Omniya, Mario González, Bill Means, Sam High Crane, Barbara Dull Knife, Wakiƞyala Wiƞ, Cruz Tecumseh Collin, Chance Ward, Theresa A. Pasqual, Loreleï Chauvey, Laure Tonasso‐Calvière, Stéphanie Schiavinato, Andaine Seguin‐Orlando, Antoine Fages, Naveed Khan, Clio Der Sarkissian, Xuexue Liu, Stefanie Wagner, Beth Leonard, Bruce L. Manzano, Nancy O’Malley, Jennifer A. Leonard, Eloísa Bernáldez Sánchez, Éric Barrey, Léa Charliquart, Émilie Robbe, Thibault Denoblet, Kristian Murphy Gregersen, Alisa O. Vershinina, Jaco Weinstock, Petra Rajić Šikanjić, Marjan Mashkour, Irina Shingiray, Jean‐Marc Aury, Aude Perdereau, Saleh A. Alquraishi, Ahmed Alfarhan, Khaled A. S. Al‐Rasheid, Tajana Trbojević Vukičević, Marcel Burić, Eberhard Sauer, Mary Lucas, Joan Brenner Coltrain, John R. Bozell, Cassidee A. Thornhill, Victoria Monagle, Angela Perri, Cody Newton, William E. Hall, Joshua L. Conver, Petrus le Roux, Sasha G. Buckser, Caroline Gabe, Juan Bautista Belardi, Christina I. Barrón-Ortiz, Isaac Hart, Christina Ryder, Matt Sponheimer, Beth Shapiro, John Southon, Joss Hibbs, Charlotte Faulkner, Alan K. Outram, Laura Patterson Rosa, Katelyn Palermo, Marina Solé, Alice William, Wayne McCrory, Gabriella Lindgren, Samantha A. Brooks, Camille Eché, Cécile Donnadieu, Olivier Bouchez, Patrick Wincker, Gregory Hodgins, Sarah Trabert, Brandi Bethke, Patrick Roberts, Emily Lena Jones, Yvette Running Horse Collin, Ludovic Orlando
Abstract
The horse is central to many Indigenous cultures across the American Southwest and the Great Plains. However, when and how horses were first integrated into Indigenous lifeways remain contentious, with extant models derived largely from colonial records. We conducted an interdisciplinary study of an assemblage of historic archaeological horse remains, integrating genomic, isotopic, radiocarbon, and paleopathological evidence. Archaeological and modern North American horses show strong Iberian genetic affinities, with later influx from British sources, but no Viking proximity. Horses rapidly spread from the south into the northern Rockies and central plains by the first half of the 17th century CE, likely through Indigenous exchange networks. They were deeply integrated into Indigenous societies before the arrival of 18th-century European observers, as reflected in herd management, ceremonial practices, and culture.