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REVIEW BY OLIVER CREIGHTON
This new, ambitious, elegantly produced volume showcases how archaeology is transforming our understanding of horses in the human past. Its purpose is twofold: to provide an introduction for those, particularly students, who have a general interest in equine archaeology; and to demonstrate the merits of integrated study within a field that draws not only on multiple strands of archaeological evidence, but also contributions from other disciplines, including history, art history, and classics.
As the editors’ introduction proclaims, the horse story is a human story, but so too is the narrative of human development one that features horses in a profound way. The manifold uses and roles that humans have found for horses makes them a species apart: they were variously venerated, valued, and exploited not only for food, husbandry, riding, and transport, but also for war, sport, and entertainment. The central achievement of the volume, which features 20 chapters involving 17 contributors (many of them early career scholars), is to map out the contours and intricacies of this varied human–horse/horse–human relationship on a global scale, from prehistory to the present. From little-known sites and equestrian artefacts through to consideration of world-famous material such as the famous Terracotta Army, the coverage is eclectic – it is not often that deconstruction of chivalric literature from the Middle Ages stands next to a consideration of palaeoproteomics – but it is to the editors’ immense credit that they have welded together a wide range of contributions to make a volume that is more than the sum of its component parts. That many contributors are themselves equestrians adds richness and lived experience to the narrative.
The ‘Methods’ section outlines the complementary contributions to horse archaeology of zooarchaeology in its varied forms, visual culture, and texts. In the second part (‘Horses Through Time’), contributors explore case studies including horses’ domestication in prehistory, ancient Egypt, Japan, the Avar Empire, India, and the Viking world. The third part (‘Working and Living with Horses’) adopts a thematic approach to different types of horse use, from their place in the modern-day heritage industry through to equestrian sports, veterinary medicine, horse consumption, horses in combat, and their uses by women.
Taken as a whole, the book demonstrates the special capacity of state-of-the-art archaeological study to change perspectives in debates that have raged for many years. In the world of medieval archaeology, integrated archaeological approaches to horses are comparatively new and are changing the face of a subject where historical text-based approaches have until recently dictated our understanding of, especially, (war)horses. It is, however, our grasp of the horse’s earliest domestication on the Eurasian steppe – a process that multi-proxy archaeological science is increasingly showing to be multi-centred and multi-phase – that the story is changing fastest. Gender perspectives are another refreshing feature of the volume. A fascinating paper traces how ‘sideways’ riding was known from the 2nd millennium BC, but adopted specifically by women from the 5th century BC; the appearance – of an enthroned individual – was rooted in depictions of gods and high-status male rulers, but latterly came to be associated with idealised female characteristics.
What more general points emerge? An underlying motif is the consistency with which horses were inherently linked to the projection of social status and the building of elite social networks in diverse cultural settings. Another, linked, theme is the horse’s prominent role in warfare, whether pulling chariots or providing the mobility and striking power of cavalry. So rapid was the horse’s co-option for martial purposes – its rapid adoption in the ancient Egyptian military soon after introduction is a clear case in point – that we wonder whether this was a primary reason for their spread, a knock-on effect, or some combination?
A word too for Sidestone Press, who have produced a volume that is a visual treat, packed with fabulous colour imagery. Overall, this collection is a shining light for future studies not only of horses but also other animal species. Given the ubiquity and centrality of horses and horse-power to so many past cultures, there are few readers who won’t find something here to make them sit up and take notice.
Harnessing Horses: From Prehistory to History
Katherine Kanne, Helene Benkert, and Camille M L Vo Van Qui (eds)
Sidestone Press, £60
ISBN 978-9464263350
