Harnessing Horses from Prehistory to History: Approaches and Case Studies

Harnessing Horses from Prehistory to History: Approaches and Case Studies

Edited by Katherine Kanne, Helene Benkert, and Camille M.L. Vo Van Qu

The human past is unimaginable without the horse. From our ancestors hunting and painting horses in the Upper Palaeolithic, to the earliest riders, the rise of equestrian empires, and the critical role of horses in war, settler colonialism, and modern state formation, human history is undeniably equestrian. Because of the deep and varied entanglements between people and horses, the study of horses of the past is inherently, and increasingly, interdisciplinary. However, scholars often do not understand the methods or know the research outside of their discipline.

This book corrals a herd of specialist authors from seventeen countries that explain their disciplinary approaches and provide case studies of human-horse relationships in the past, including archaeology, history, classics, art history, literature, and veterinary medicine.

This ground-covering volume overviews key methods, theory, period, and area studies. Aimed at scholars wanting to understand and incorporate research outside of their speciality, or those who wish to undertake collaborative projects, it is also designed as a starting point for students and non-specialists to pursue the study of horses in the past.

Paperback ISBN: 9789464263350 | Hardback ISBN: 9789464263367 | Imprint: Sidestone Press | Format: 210x280mm | 288 pp. | Language: English | 12 illus. (bw) | 119 illus. (fc) | Keywords: archaeology; horses; prehistory; history; equestrianism; human-horse relationships; horse domestication; zooarchaeology; horses in warfare; horses as cultural heritage; zooarchaeology | download cover | DOI: 10.59641/ww723zi | CC-license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Foreword
Alan Outram

Introduction
Katherine Kanne, Helene Benkert, and Camille M.L. Vo Van Qui

Part 1: Methods

Archaeology of the Horse
Katherine Kanne and Helene Benkert

Advanced Methods in Zooarchaeology
Katherine M. French

Art History for Historians and Archaeologists: Using Visual Culture as Source Material
Lonneke Delpeut

Methodologies in Classics
Carolyn Willekes

Interdisciplinary Research Methods in History: The Example of Medieval Horses in Western Europe
Camille M.L. Vo Van Qui

Part 2: Horses Through Time

Horse Domestication and Early Use
Katherine Kanne

Horses in Ancient Egypt
Lonneke Delpeut and Heidi Köpp-Junk

Introducing Horses to Kofun Japan: The Dawn of Equine Culture focussing on Kawachi (河内) (Current Osaka Region)
Chun Ho Kim

Horse and Rider in the Avar Empire (late 6th-early 9th century AD)
Birgit Bühler

Horses in the Viking Age
Harriet J. Evans Tang

The History and Historiography of the Horse in India
Yashaswini Chandra

Part 3: Working and Living with Horses

Approaches to Researching Horse Training in Medieval Western Europe: Thirteenth to Fifteenth centuries
Camille M.L. Vo Van Qui

The Horse in European Warfare
Helene Benkert and Birgit Bühler

History of Equine Veterinary Medicine
Savaş Volkan Genç

Hippophagy
Katherine M. French

European Women in the Sideways and the Side-saddle
Bettina Keil-Steentjes

The Horse in Literature – From Status Symbol to Companion
Cristina Oliveros Calvo and Anastasija Ropa

Equestrian Sports Through the Ages
Anastasija Ropa

Horses as Cultural Heritage: The Cretan Horse
Věra Klontza-Jaklova