The goal here is not to draw the horses’ precise range at any given time during the Holocene, which is rather impossible, but to estimate their potential presence on the steppes over the past 4,000 years based on the written sources quoted in Part 4 and Part 5, the list of which is probably not exhaustive. The account of the Machurian mass hunt cannot be used due to the lack of spatial indications and the immensity of the Manchu empire in c. 1650.
The various geographical locations matching the written sources (in color) are superimposed on the borders of East-Asian drylands (in wine color) which encompass areas of prime Takhi grassland habitat. A detailed map of the vegetation contained within these border is available here.
The maps are shown in chronological order.
These various sources and corresponding maps hint at a widespread Takhi presence on the East-asian steppe, beyond in areas of Southern Siberia and possibly in portions of the Shang Civilization’s territory during a substantial part of the Holocene.
The original source map for these various maps is available here. The maps were established based on the following sources:
- Map of the Shang dynasty
- Map of the Han dynasty
- Map of the Mongol Empire
- Mongol states in the 14-18th centuries
- Mongolia in the 15th century
- Map of East Asian in 1734
- Satellite map of Dzungaria
Continue reading about the Przewalski horse: Part 1 I Part 2 I Part 3 I Part 4 I Part 5 I Part 7 I Part 8 I Part 9 I Part 10 I Part 11 I Part 12