Palaeopathology and the origins and evolution of horse husbandry
A collaborative, interdisciplinary project, rooted in archaeology and employing veterinary science to identify osteological differences between riding, traction and free-living horses, resulting from their different life-ways, in order to further our understanding of the origins and evolution of horse husbandry. Two analytical methods are employed:
1) A detailed comparative study of skeletons from a wide range of sources, both modern and ancient. We are examining samples from 3 populations of modern horses (free-living Exmoor ponies, Lithuanian draught horses, and riding ponies. The archaeological samples include riding horses that wore pad saddles and those that wore frame saddles, as well as chariot horses.
2) A study in which we use force-sensing array (FSA) technology to measure the pressure distribution on a horse's back when it is ridden using different types of saddles and bareback.
Prof. Leo B. Jeffcott was originally the project Principal Investigator. When he took a new position in Australia, Prof. Graeme Barker agreed to take over as Principal Investigator. Prof. Jeffcott remains a collaborator on this project.
Project
arts-humanities.net
2004 Levine, M.A. Exploring the criteria for early horse domestication, in M. Jones (ed.), Traces of Ancestry: Studies in Honour of Colin Renfrew: 115-26. McDonald Institute Monograph. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
2005 Levine, M.A. Domestication and early history of the horse, in D.M. Mills & S.M. McDonnell (ed.), The Domestic Horse: the Origins, Development and Management of its Behaviour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 5-22.
2005 Levine, M.A., Xunhua Ma De Qiyuan Yanjiu [Investigating the origins of horse domestication], Tulufanxue Yanjiu [Turfanological Research]，2005 (2):87-99. [in Chinese]
2005 Levine, M.A., K.E. Whitwell & L.B. Jeffcott. Abnormal thoracic vertebrae and the evolution of horse husbandry, Archaeofauna, 14, pp. 93-109.
2006 McGahern, A., M. M. Bower, C. J. Edwards, P. O. Brophy, G. Sulimova, I. Zacharov, M. Vizuete-Forster, M. Levine, S. Li, D. E. MacHugh and E. W. Hill. "Evidence for biogeographic patterning of mitochondrial DNA sequences in Eastern horse populations." Animal Genetic, 37, 494–497.
2006 Levine, M.A. mtDNA and horse domestication: the archaeologist’s cut, in M. Mashkour (ed.), Equids in Time and Space. Proceedings of the 9th international Conference of Archaeozoology (Durham). Oxford: Oxbow, pp 192-201.
In prep. Levine, M. A., Holmes, M., Li Shuicheng, Zhang Yuzhong, Lu Enguo, Otchir-Gorieva, M., Taylor, C., Whitwell, K. E., Jeffcott, L. B. "An experimental study of technological change in Inner Asia: The reconstruction of an ancient saddle from Subeixi (Xinjiang)."
In prep. Levine, M. A., Whitwell, K. E., Jeffcott, L. B. A new methodology for describing and grading osteological changes and abnormalities in modern and ancient horses: thoracic vertebrae.
In prep. Levine, M. A., Li Shuicheng, Tien Jacqi, Whitwell, K. E. “Horse skeletons from two late Spring and Autumn Period (c. 770-475 BC) chariot pits at Feng Xiang Sunjia’nantou (Shaanxi)”