keywords
- Archaeozoology, Animal domestication, Great Plains, 3D scanning, Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, ZooMS, Horses, Reindeer, Climate change, Glacial archaeology
- Contact Info
Taylor, William
Positions
- Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
- Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Research Areas
Research
Publications
selected publications
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book
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chapter
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conference proceeding
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Understanding the prehistory of domestic animals in East and Central Asia through scientific archaeozoology.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
2018
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Understanding the prehistory of domestic animals in East and Central Asia through scientific archaeozoology.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
2018
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journal article
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TEPEAK: A novel method for identifying and characterizing polymorphic transposable elements in non-model species populations.
PLoS Computational Biology.
e1013122-e1013122.
2026
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Understanding the origin of reindeer riding in Northeast Asia through animal paleopathology and collaborative archaeology.
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research.
2025
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Validating a Target-Enrichment Design for Capturing Uniparental Haplotypes in Ancient Domesticated Animals.
Molecular Ecology Resources.
2025
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Early transatlantic movement of horses and donkeys at Jamestown.
Science Advances.
2025
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Multi-species entanglements and stable isotope signals (δ13C and δ15N) in modern reindeer herding communities of boreal northeast Asia.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences.
2025
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Understanding horse domestication and horse health care in the ancient world.
Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.
2025
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Global natural history infrastructure requires international solidarity, support, and investment in local capacity.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
2025
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A spectral cavalcade: Early Iron Age horse sacrifice at a royal tomb in southern Siberia.
Antiquity.
1538-1557.
2024
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Toward Legal, Ethical, and Culturally Informed Care of Animal Remains in American Museum Collections.
Advances in Archaeological Practice.
416-423.
2024
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Genome-wide population affinities and signatures of adaptation in hydruntines, sussemiones and Asian wild asses.
Molecular Ecology.
2024
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Tracing horseback riding and transport in the human skeleton.
Science Advances.
2024
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High altitude horse use and early horse transport in eastern Eurasia: New evidence from melting ice.
Holocene.
1204-1213.
2024
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The origins of saddles and riding technology in East Asia: discoveries from the Mongolian Altai.
Antiquity.
102-118.
2024
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Interdisciplinary evidence for early domestic horse exploitation in southern Patagonia.
Science Advances.
2023
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Reassessing the terminal ballistic performance of trilobate and quadrilobate arrow points on Iron Age battlefields.
PLoS ONE.
2023
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Elite chariots and early horse transport at the Bronze Age burial site of Shijia.
Antiquity.
636-653.
2023
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Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies.
Science.
1316-+.
2023
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New evidence for the Chust culture in the Pamiro-Alay mountains (South Kyrgyzstan).
175-183.
2023
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Central Mongolian lake sediments reveal new insights on climate change and equestrian empires in the Eastern Steppes.
Scientific Reports.
2022
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Rock Art and Early Cultural Dynamics in Eastern Mongolia.
Asian Perspectives.
2022
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Seeking Horses: Allies, Clients and Exchanges in the Zhou Period (1045–221 BC).
Journal of World Prehistory.
489-530.
2021
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Understanding early horse transport in eastern Eurasia through analysis of equine dentition.
Antiquity.
1478-1494.
2021
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Dairying enabled Early Bronze Age Yamnaya steppe expansions.
Nature.
629-+.
2021
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The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes.
Nature.
634-+.
2021
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Cranial shape diversification in horses: variation and covariation patterns under the impact of artificial selection.
BMC Ecology and Evolution.
2021
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Evidence for early dispersal of domestic sheep into Central Asia.
Nature Human Behaviour.
1169-+.
2021
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Mongolia’s Frozen Heritage.
103-120.
2021
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High altitude hunting, climate change, and pastoral resilience in eastern Eurasia.
Scientific Reports.
2021
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Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Lehi Horse: Implications for Early Historic Horse Cultures of the North American West.
American Antiquity.
465-485.
2021
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An Imagined Past?.
Current Anthropology.
251-286.
2021
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Archaeological and environmental cave records in the Gobi-Altai Mountains, Mongolia.
Quaternary International.
66-89.
2021
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Building a scientific model for East Asian pastoral origins: A reply to Honeychurch et al..
Archaeological Research in Asia.
100286-100286.
2021
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REPLY TO SHELACH-LAVI ET AL.: Implications of the horse assemblages from Shirenzigou and Xigou.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
2021
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Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai.
Scientific Reports.
2021
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New Directions in a Warming World.
1-3.
2021
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The Land of the White Horse: Visions of England.
Journal of Anthropological Research.
548-549.
2020
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Early evidence for mounted horseback riding in northwest China.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
29569-29576.
2020
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A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe.
Cell.
890-+.
2020
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Horse sacrifice and butchery in Bronze Age Mongolia.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
2020
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Author Correction: Early Pastoral Economies and Herding Transitions in Eastern Eurasia..
Scientific Reports.
4536.
2020
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Economic Diversification Supported the Growth of Mongolia’s Nomadic Empires.
Scientific Reports.
2020
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Dairy pastoralism sustained eastern Eurasian steppe populations for 5,000 years..
Nature Ecology and Evolution.
346-355.
2020
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Early Pastoral Economies and Herding Transitions in Eastern Eurasia.
Scientific Reports.
2020
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New insights into the Epipaleolithic of western Central Asia: The Tutkaulian complex.
Quaternary International.
139-154.
2020
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The Donkey in Human History: An Archaeological Perspective. Peter Mitchell. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, 306 pp. £65.00, paper. ISBN 9780198749233..
Journal of Anthropological Research.
573-575.
2019
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Investigating reindeer pastoralism and exploitation of high mountain zones in northern Mongolia through ice patch archaeology.
PLoS ONE.
2019
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Radiocarbon dating and cultural dynamics across Mongolia's early pastoral transition.
PLoS ONE.
2019
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Tracking Five Millennia of Horse Management with Extensive Ancient Genome Time Series.
Cell.
1419-1435.e31.
2019
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Investigating ancient animal economies and exchange in Kyrgyzstan's Alay Valley.
Antiquity.
2019
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Early pastoral economies along the Ancient Silk Road: Biomolecular evidence from the Alay Valley, Kyrgyzstan.
PLoS ONE.
2018
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Origins of equine dentistry.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
2018
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Evidence for early human occupation at high altitudes in western Central Asia: the Alay site.
Antiquity.
2018
- Production technology of personal ornaments in western Central Asia in early Holocene complexes. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia. 2018
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A Bayesian chronology for early domestic horse use in the Eastern Steppe.
Journal of Archaeological Science.
49-58.
2017
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Horse demography and use in Bronze Age Mongolia.
Quaternary International.
270-282.
2017
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Reconstructing Equine Bridles in the Mongolian Bronze Age.
Journal of Ethnobiology.
554-570.
2016
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Equine cranial morphology and the identification of riding and chariotry in late Bronze Age Mongolia.
Antiquity.
854-871.
2015
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TEPEAK: A novel method for identifying and characterizing polymorphic transposable elements in non-model species populations.
PLoS Computational Biology.
e1013122-e1013122.
2026
Background
education and training
- Ph.D., University of New Mexico 2017
- M.S., University of New Mexico 2013
- B.A., Carleton College 2011
awards and honors
International Activities
geographic focus
- Argentina Country
- Asia Continent
- Australia Country
- Australia and New Zealand Continent
- Canada Country
- Central Asia Transnational Region
- China Country
- Czech Republic Country
- France Country
- Germany Country
- Mongolia Country
- South America Continent
- United Kingdom Country
- western Europe Transnational Region