The excavation of this听centuries old horse skeleton听led to a new study from CU Boulder researchers. (Photo courtesy of Bridger Hill)听
In 2018, a Utah couple鈥檚 landscaping day was interrupted when they unearthed the听nearly complete听skeleton of a horse. The discovery led听to a听new study from CU听researchers, published in American Antiquity, that furthers听understanding into the early relationships between horses and Native American populations.
At first, scientists believed the horse had lived during the last Ice Age. But when William Taylor, lead author of this new research and curator of archaeology at the听CU Museum of Natural History, saw spinal fractures on the horse鈥檚 skeleton that result from the stress of a human rider, he thought the horse might not have been so old. 听
Further research revealed that听the horse听had been a domesticated 12-year-old female, likely belonging to a Ute or Shoshone community in the early 17th century. This incredible discovery has the potential to provide new insight into the importance of听horses to听Indigenous populations in听the Great Plains and West.
Read more about the Lehi Horse.
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