University of Colorado Boulder
Institute of Behavioral Science

Center for Collaborative Synthesis in Archaeology

William Taylor’s new book uncovers a unique history of horses

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Five brown horses gallop across a field of yellow grass, a hill in the background. Trees with fall leaves dot the hillside.

William Taylor, CU Boulder assistant professor of anthropology, IBS affiliate and curator of archaeology for the CU Boulder Museum of Natural History, has published a new book, Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History. With a decade of research behind it, the book takes a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective on the history of horses, combining archaeology with insights from ecology, evolutionary biology, oral traditions, historical records and more. Taylor received the spring 2024 Kayden Book Award from the CU Boulder College of Arts and Sciences for his work, with a $5,000 award given annually to a book representing excellence in history and the arts. Learn more about the book, available today, from Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine writer, Doug McPherson.

New insights into the Roman Empire uncovered in an English village ruin

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A river runs through a tall bridge with arches, reminiscent of Roman aqueducts. Across the river is a small English village. People are in the river on small canoes.

In recently published research, Scott Ortman, director of the Center for the Collaborative Synthesis in Archaeology and associate professor of anthropology, and John Hanson, associate professor of Roman archaeology and art at the University of Oxford, have uncovered a new population estimate for the ancient city of Silchester. Now a ruin, Silchester was a Roman-era village in south-central England and its peak population was largely estimated at around 4,000. However, with new excavation techniques, Ortman and Hanson’s research shows the peak population to be closer to 5,500. Blake Puscher writes more about the implications of this increase in his story in the Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine.

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