The Archaeology of the Horse

From the Palaeolithic to the Modern Age

Fernando Coimbra, Dragoş Gheorghiu, Zuzana Golec Mírová

• Publisher: Oxbow Books
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9798888572276
• Subtopic: History of Art
• Index: Social Sciences

Explores the horse's diverse roles in human history, from prehistoric art and domestication to social, ritual, and symbolic significance.

The horse has a strong presence in archaeology. Its relationship with past human beings has great diversity, which can be analysed through economic, social, artistic and mythological aspects. This book, the outcome of a session at the European Association of Archaeologists' Annual Meeting in Rome in 2024, focuses on a variety of different aspects about the archaeology of the horse, such as its presence in prehistoric rock art and sculpture, antiquity and medieval art, the domestication process, the use of the horse for riding and traction, its use in funerary rituals, symbolism and presence in myths in diverse societies, among other themes.

In the Palaeolithic, this animal was not only a source of meat for nourishment, but it appears in the origins of artistic representations through paintings and carvings on cave walls and on open air outcrops. The domestication process included the use of mare’s milk, which is rich in proteins and carbohydrates, being low in fat, and having a high content in vitamin C, making it better than cow’s milk. When horses started to be ridden people could travel faster, developing trade and communication, disclosing cultural issues. With the emergence of complex societies, the horse was used in hunting, as a ‘war machine’ and as a symbol of social status. Iconography available in a variety of archaeologically visible media such as rock art, sculptures, numismatics, mosaics, and frescoes, among other artistic manifestations, enables us to understand better the importance of the horse in the development of civilisation. 

The book seeks to go beyond previous publications about the horse, which usually do not encompass prehistoric cultures, are often geographically limited, or focus on physical characteristics of the horse in battle or on descriptions of horse equipment with a lack of scientific archaeological context. The chapters presented here engage with the human-horse relationship on a variety of levels and at different time periods, with an emphasis on the social and cultural significance of the horse, zooarchaeological evidence, the role of horses in combat and ritual contexts and the relationship between horse and rider in iconography, art and burial rites.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Chapter 1 - Representations of Equidae in European Upper Palaeolithic art
• Chapter 2 - Navigating a way through: the horses of Cueva de la Pileta, Andalucía, Spain
• Chapter 3 - Equids in prehistoric subsistence practices: a review of the Portuguese Palaeolithic to Bronze Age record
• Chapter 4 - The Chalcolithic stone horse heads insignia from the 5th millennium BC Danube-Pontic region
• Chapter 5 - Horses during the European Bronze Age and Iron Age: archaeology, iconography, and mythology
• Chapter 6 - The horse in the art of the Koban culture
• Chapter 7 - Reflection of the horse in material culture in Moravia (Czech Republic) in the Urnfields and Hallstatt Period
• Chapter 8 - The horse sacrifices in the royal Hellenistic necropolis of the Getae in their capital “Dausdava-Helis” (Sboryanovo National Reserve, north-east Bulgaria): an overview of studies
• Chapter 9 - About heroes and horses: horseman iconography in representative sumptuous tombs (4th–3rd centuries BC)
• Chapter 10 - As prestigious as Marengo: the art of horsemanship riding in Geometric Argive pottery and burials
• Chapter 11 - Height and weight of horses in Portugal between the late medieval and the early modern periods: an approach based on written sources
• Chapter 12 - Conclusions: from prey to centaur