Archaeologists from the University of Helsinki (Finland) came to the conclusion that people who roamed the steppes of western Eurasia mastered the art of horsemanship as early as the 4th millennium BC, shortly after they domesticated wild horses. Researchers are studying the so-called Yamnaya culture dating back to the end of the Copper Age - the beginning of the Bronze Age (3600-2300 BC). The people of this culture were pastoralists who roamed from the Caspian and Black Sea steppes to the territory of modern Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia. Judging by the results of a new study, nomads traveled these distances on horseback. A characteristic feature of the Yamnaya culture is the burial of the dead in pits under the barrows. Scientists have studied the remains of 156 human skeletons buried in mounds in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary between 3021 and 2501 BC to identify signs that indicate regular horseback riding and related injuries. We are talking about characteristic changes in the shape of the pelvic bones, femurs, vertebrae, and so on.

The analysis revealed such features in at least 24 skeletons, five of which were especially marked with these bone changes. That is, these "pits" simply did not get off their horses, the researchers say. These are the most ancient riders of all that have been identified so far, scientists emphasize.