#10 - Concept Reference, Must Be True

[yufenz]

I would like to give it a try here.

One thing C bothered me a lot was its terminology of "domestication". Bones of fully grown females are DEFINITELY not evidence of horse domestication for food/meat purposes. This is specifically stated in the first sentence of the second paragraph. However, maybe the Botai had domesticated horses for other unknown purposes. I guess the most I would say is that the bones of fully grown females do not weaken hypothesis C (definitely not strengthen and not evidence).

But the fact that there are bones of young males alone is sufficient to infer that the Botai did not ride horses. And I believe this alone can help us choose C over other choices.

I guessed the best explanation for this proposed phenomenon would be: the Botai hunted horse families for food and ate them all. OR, the Botai hunted horse families for food and domesticated fully grown male horses only. That said, I would take choice B over C if it leaves out the riding part. (The article simply didn't say any other type of domestication besides for food/milk/riding purposes).

[Paul Popa]

Hi yufenz,

I would push back a bit on your statement about fully grown females. The first sentence of the second paragraph says that "herders of domesticated animals used for meat or milk typically kill off all but a few males before they are fully mature, but not the females..." If the horse remains found at the Botai sites had consisted primarily of the bones of fully grown females and young males, as the question stem states, this seems to square up quite well with what were told in the first sentence of the second paragraph about domesticated animals used for meat or milk: most males are culled before they fully mature (thus explaining the bones of the males being of young males) but not the females (thus explaining why the bones of the females are of fully grown females).

I would also say that the first sentence of the second paragraph supports the idea that herders do, in fact, domesticate animals specifically for meat and milk, so it's fair to call these horses domesticated, as (C) does. Together with the fact that the bones of fully grown males are rare, it's also safe to say that the horses they domesticated were not used for riding. Hope this helps!