Early transatlantic movement of horses and donkeys at Jamestown
Domestic equids were central to the initial colonization of the Atlantic coast of the Americas, a process partially chronicled by historical records. While Spanish colonists brought horses to the Caribbean decades earlier, settlement of the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, was among the first dispersals of horses to the eastern seaboard. Archaeozoological analysis of identifiable domestic equid remains from two contexts associated with the initial occupation of Jamestown demonstrates intense processing and consumption of the first Jamestown horses during the "Starving Time" winter of 1609. Osteological and biomolecular study of these equid remains demonstrates their successful reproduction at the colony and use in transport activities and identifies an adult domestic donkey with mixed European and West African ancestry, possibly supplied through undocumented exchange during a transatlantic stopover. These results reveal the challenges of equid translocation in early settlement of eastern North America and the global connectivity of early transatlantic animal exchange.
Authors
- Luís M. Borges (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6419-4807)
- A.J. Waterman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5321-2539)
- Nicolas Delsol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4927-6027)
- Dane Magoon
- Michael Lavin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1106-0962)
- Jonathan Santana (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9615-8560)
- Ludovic Orlando (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3936-1850)
- George D. Kamenov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6041-6687)
- Loreleï Chauvey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5015-3924)
- Stéphanie Schiavinato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9007-6305)
- Laure Tonasso‐Calvière (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5140-074X)
- Vicky M. Oelze (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9029-8813)
- Aitor Brito-Mayor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2453-7780)
- William Taylor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0836-7814)
- Ariane E. Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9142-8122)
- Matthew E. Hill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4998-0057)
- John Krigbaum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3113-7061)
- Akinwumi Ogundiran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7773-0461)
- Peter Mitchell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8337-7529)
- Christina I. Barrón-Ortiz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0732-875X)
- Lucy W. Keith‐Diagne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0275-7966)
- Lauren Hosek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7184-3820)
- D.W. Peate (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7813-5824)
- Leah Stricker
- Olumide Ojediran
- Diana Quintero-Bisono
Institutions
- Northwestern University (US)
- Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ES)
- University of Iowa (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR)
- University of Leicester (GB)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- Mount Mercy University (US)
- University of Florida (US)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Health & Medical Publishing Group (ZA)
- Museum of Boulder (US)
- Royal Alberta Museum (CA)
- Oxford Archaeology (GB)
- Université Laval (CA)
- University of Jamestown (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-09-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adw2595
- Primary Topic
- Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00