Scientists discover bones of ancient nomads who lived in southeastern Europe thousands of years ago. They retained what researchers believe to be the first evidence of horseback riding, Science Alert reports..

An analysis of the bones of the Yamnaya culture, who lived on the Eurasian steppe between 3021 and 2501 BC, showed that they kept horses not only for milk. Ancient people rode these animals while moving, as well as when driving sheep and cattle..

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“It appears that horseback riding arose shortly after the alleged domestication of horses in the western Eurasian steppes in the fourth millennium BC.. It was already quite common among the Yamnaya culture between 3000 and 2500 BC,” said archaeologist Volker Heid of the University of Helsinki in Finland..

Finding evidence of riding is much harder than it might seem.. Some cultures, such as the ancient Romans and Greeks, left drawings that depict riders on horseback.. But the art of older cultures may not have survived to this day, and simply finding horse bones in ancient settlements is not enough to draw conclusions..

For example, in previous studies, scientists have found traces of horse milk on pottery shards and milk peptides in dental plaque on the teeth of Yamnaya people.. This may indicate that they kept horses as a source of food..

But the mere absence of riding equipment cannot indicate that people did not ride horses.. The Pit culture is named after one thing for which it is very well known: the pits, known as burial mounds, in which their dead were buried.. Many well-preserved skeletons were found in these pits..

Thanks to the analysis of these remains, scientists determined that representatives of the Yamnaya culture rode horseback..

The researchers developed six sets of criteria that, taken together, can be seen as evidence of riding.. These include, in particular, the characteristic wear and tear of bones and joints, as well as injuries caused by a fall from a height, a horse bite or kick..

Scientists studied 217 skeletons found in 39 regions, 150 of them attributed to the Yamnaya culture. And 24 of those skeletons had marks that showed the man was on horseback.. At the same time, people who lived before and after the Yamnaya culture were also probable riders..