Humans didn't domesticate horses until 4,200 years ago — a millennium later than thought

A man in a blue robe herds horses on the Inner Mongolian grassy plain.

Humans domesticated horses 1,000 years later than previously thought, first for access to their meat and milk and then for their transportation capabilities, a new study of ancient horse DNA suggests. 

The genetic analysis reveals a date around 2200 B.C. for the domestication of modern horses, forcing scholars to rethink how both horses and humans expanded into Central Europe millennia ago.