Ethnocynology with David Ian Howe27 Sep 2025

Horses (Part 2) | Horses in Early Contact North America with Cassidee Thornhill - Ep 24

In this episode of Ethnocynology with David Ian Howe, I sit down with my good friend and former graduate school cohort member Cassidee Thornhill, Collections Manager at the University of Wyoming Archaeological Repository.

Cassidee’s research dives into the early contact era in Wyoming, focusing on the arrival and spread of horses before and during European colonization. We discuss her fascinating thesis work on the Black’s Fork River site, where a young foal was found buried alongside three coyote skulls—an extraordinary archaeological discovery that sheds light on early human–horse relationships on the Plains.

Topics we cover include:

The Black’s Fork horse burial and its cultural significance
Early radiocarbon dates showing horses in Wyoming decades before the Pueblo Revolt
Evidence of early veterinary care and human–horse bonds
How horses transformed Native economies, sovereignty, and resistance
Genetic research linking early horses in the Americas to Spanish (and later British) stock
The broader story of how horses reshaped Indigenous life across the Plains

Cassidee also shares her perspective on whether horses or dogs have been more influential in human history—a big question we love to ask on this show.

This episode is the extended interview version you won’t find on YouTube—perfect for listeners who want the full deep dive into Cassidee’s groundbreaking work.

Transcripts

For a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/ethnocynology/24

Links:

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