Botai Settlement

Botai

Kazakhstan · North Kazakhstan

SettlementUnknown
Approximate period3,700 BCE — 3,100 BCEChalcolithic See on the map ↓

In brief

Dated to approximately 3700-3100 BCE, Botai documents a settled community with intensive ties to horses. Horse bones and pottery residues from the excavations provide important evidence for debates about early horse husbandry.

What was found?

  • 1Dense accumulation of horse bones

    According to Kansas Üniversitesi, excavations uncovered 300,000 or more bone fragments, more than 90% of which belonged to horses. This concentration shows the horse's dominant place in subsistence.

  • 2Semi-subterranean dwellings

    More than 160 pit houses have been identified at the settlement. These document the existence of a large, permanent village.

  • 3Vessels associated with milk use

    According to some researchers, lipid residues in the pottery indicate the use of mare's milk. Whether this interpretation can be considered evidence of domestication is debated.

  • 4Bifacial stone tools

    Heavy stone tools worked on both faces have been found. They show a change in the toolkit compared with the light blades of earlier mobile hunting communities.

  • 5Cord- and comb-impressed pottery

    Vessel surfaces were decorated with cord and comb impressions. This decorative tradition resembles the pottery of earlier communities.

What does it point to?

Botay shows that a subsistence system based on horses could coexist with a large, permanent village. Researchers hold differing views on whether the finds reflect domestic horse breeding or intensive hunting of wild horses.

What did it teach us?

  1. Documented that the horse could play a dominant role in the subsistence of a Chalcolithic community.
  2. The large group of dwellings provided evidence of village life throughout the year.
  3. Bone, tooth, and vessel remains enabled explanations of horse domestication to be tested again.


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12.000

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