Research indicates the Botai culture, on the steppes of what is now northern Kazakhstan, domesticated horses about 5,500 years ago. That’s 1,000 years earlier than was previously believed.

According to an article in the latimes.com that is also about 2,000 years earlier than domesticated horses were introduced in Europe.

The researchers, who have been working at the Botai site since 1993, have found evidence that horses were a large part of the people’s culture, including mare milk residue on pottery, horse teeth that looked as if a bit had been used, and horse manure used in roofing materials