Abstract

The article describes the early Middle Age horse skeletal remains yielded by the Saltovo-Mayaki archaeological sites from Eastern Ukraine. According to the obtained results, the Saltovo-Mayaki domestic breed represents an improved riding horse with the medium height at the withers, thin and semi-thin metacarpals, elongated phalanxes, moderately short muzzle, relatively large cheek teeth and long protocone in upper cheek teeth. A large number of juveniles and few seniles in the studied sample suggest that Saltovo-Mayaki Culture bearers practised hippophagy. This conclusion is supported by the recorded cutting tool marks on horse bones.

Keywords

Early middle age, saltovo-mayaki culture, horse, morphology, hippophagy, archaeological sites, horse remains, limb bones, juveniles, skull, Upper Saltov, Saltov horses