Horse burial

[9] This supposed "head and hooves" culture, however, is only one explanation for archeological finds from the third millennium BCE.

[9] In China, horse burials (including chariots) are found beginning in the Shang dynasty (1600–1100 BCE).

[9] Sites featuring horse burials are found throughout the regions of the world occupied by Indo-Aryan, Turkic, and Chinese peoples.

[22] Actual horse burials in England are relatively rare and "may point to influence from the continent".

[4] A sixth-century grave near Lakenheath, Suffolk, yielded the body of a man next to that of a "complete horse in harness, with a bucket of food by its head.

[6] Examination of the archaeological record in Norway has revealed some patterns that are comparable to horse burials in other areas.

The grave goods found in Viking burials associated with horses in Norway and Iceland are also pretty similar.

Given the public display of the sacrifice, it could not have solely been for personal religious reasons and could have had important social implications as well.

[25] Archaeologists found that horses were killed and their whole bodies carefully buried at some Gaulish and British sanctuaries.

At Gournay-sur-Aronde, the animals were left to decompose before their bones were buried around the bounds of the sanctuary along with numerous broken weapons.

[27] Some southern British tribes carefully buried horses and dogs in grain storage pits.

[8] Particularly notable is the tomb of Duke Jing of Qi (reigned 547–490 BCE), which contained a separate pit with the remains of possibly over 600 horses.