Domestic Donkeys May Have Worn Bits As Early As 5,000 Years Ago
May 22, 2018 by News Staff / Source
An analysis of a complete skeleton of an early domestic donkey from the Early Bronze Age (2800-2600 BC) deposits at the site of the Biblical city ‘Gath of the Philistines’ (modern Tell es-Safi) in central Israel demonstrates that the animal was being ridden or managed with the use of a dental bit.
Donkeys (Equus asinus) are known to be used as beasts of burden, transporting goods in the Near East at the end of the 4th and beginning of the early 3rd millennium BC. However, little is known about the history of riding donkeys during this early period.
http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/domestic-donkeys-bits-06026.html
