Culture

New study provides support for connections between livestock dairying and the rise of social complexity on the eastern steppe.

Researchers checked for dairy-related proteins in the dental calculus of humans who once lived in the Altai region.

Animals carved into stone were created to be placed around fires at night, allowing the flickering light to play across them, researchers suggest.

Several equine pieces are among the 71 lots on offer in Sotheby’s “Animals” sale in Paris.

The trophy was presented by Queen Victoria in 1845 but over the generations, the vase and plinth were separated, and the owner’s family did not realise its significance.

The growth of extensive and productive grasslands provided the engine for both economic and political power, and the rise of horse cultures.

DNA testing has revealed that the equids used for travel and warfare in Mesopotamia 4500 years ago were crosses between domestic donkeys and wild asses, making them the oldest known example of animal hybrids.

Despite their size, huge sums were spent on developing and maintaining networks for the breeding, training and keeping of warhorses.

Graves unearthed in southern Germany include those of Merovingian nobility from around the 7th century.