Abstract
The horse, a majestic and noble animal. In the course of prehistory, a unique relationship was created between mankind and the horse, for that matter history was often written from horseback.
The chronological scope of the work is delimited to the early Bronze Age and the end of the La Tène Period, hence a period longer than 2,000 years. The book deals with 219 contexts, which include 5,259 items with the theme of the horse.
These are presented in a catalogue at the end of the work and depicted in 63 tables; they comprise the core of the work. However, the special and cultural-chronological life and institutions of the territory in question (Moravia) are presented first.
Acquaintance follows with the necessary terminology, the basic biological characteristics of the horse are also outlined. An important part of the work is the typological-chronological analysis and a new Moravian typology and chronology of the sources with the theme of the horse, numbering almost 150 types of artefacts.
The work goes on to a number of subsequent chapters that the theme offers: reconstructive and experimental archaeology, discusses various roles of the horse for Central European prehistoric societies of the Bronze and Iron Ages. It further deals with the socio-economic aspects of the occurrence of sources on the horse, focusing on its connection with higher social classes.
Nor the study of religions is ignored, because the book includes two excursuses. One of the outputs of the work is the connection of the theme of the horse with research of prehistoric communications.
Author consider the complex setting of sources with the theme of horses in the context of prehistoric cultures as crucial since the horse was not only a companion during the transformations of traditional chieftain societies, but probably also one of its key inhibitors (e.g. the Thraco-Cimmerian horizon or Late Hallstatt Period).