The Economic and Political History Podcast How Horses Shaped Human History | William T. Taylor with Javier Mejia
Aug 10, 2025
In this engaging conversation, William T. Taylor, an assistant professor and curator at the University of Colorado, discusses the profound influence of horses on human history. He reveals how the bond between humans and horses started in the grasslands and transformed societies through advancements in transportation and military power. Delving into the intriguing timeline of horse domestication, Taylor challenges traditional views and shares insights from archaeozoology. Javier Mejia adds depth with his expertise in economic history, connecting the dots between these ancient practices and modern implications.
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Montana Roots And Mongolian Turning Point
- William T. Taylor grew up amid cowboy traditions but without many horses and kept a cultural curiosity about them.
- A field excavation in Mongolia, including a Pazirik horse burial, sparked his direct lifelong connection to horses.
Grassland Evolution Made Horses Unique
- Horses evolved for open grasslands, becoming large, fast, and adapted to grazing tough grasses with specialized teeth and digestion.
- William T. Taylor emphasizes horses' evolved social and communicative complexity that underpins human-horse relationships.
Horses As Ancient Prey And Cultural Icons
- Humans hunted and used horses from very early on, with sites showing coordinated hunts and extensive butchery of horses.
- By the Upper Paleolithic horses dominated art and ritual, linking them to symbolic human behaviors and belief.
