This is interesting! Arab News reports that Saudi paleontologists have discovered artifacts indicating that 7,000 years ago, man (perhaps not yet separated into an ‘Arab’ classification) was domesticating the horse. If true, this pushes back the date of domestication by a good 3,000-5,000 years. It also moves the site of domestication out of the Central Asian steppes. The article, unfortunately, gives no information about exactly what the artifacts are. I’m not yet finding collateral information through Internet searches, but presumably that will come over time.
Rare artifacts excavated in Kingdom’s Al-Maqar area
P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on Tuesday expressed his satisfaction over the discovery of rare antiques during recent excavations that revealed that people in the Arabian Peninsula were interested in horses 9,000 years ago.
Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, and members of the excavation team briefed the king on the importance of the artifacts that were found in Al-Maqar in the central region of Saudi Arabia.
“The antiquities proved that Al-Maqar was the oldest place in the world so far with people interested in horses,” an official statement said, adding that the artifacts also showed the cultural activities of people in the region during the Stone Age.
King Abdullah praised the excavation team and wished them greater successes in their efforts. He also urged the SCTA to publish the results of the excavation that proved that the Arabian Peninsula had precedence in taking care of horses.
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August:24:2011 - 12:22
Very interesting indeed! I would love to read a more scholarly article later on.