News Archaeology

The Yamnaya may have been the world’s earliest known horseback riders

Excavated human skeletons indicate that the Yamnaya rode horses around 5,000 years ago

An overhead photo of a skeleton.

Several skeletons from the ancient Yamnaya people, including the one shown here, bear signs that they may have ridden horses around 5,000 years ago, a new study suggests. That would make them the earliest known horseback riders.

Michał Podsiadło

By McKenzie Prillaman

WASHINGTON — The tale of the first horseback riders may be written on the bones of the ancient Yamnaya people.