As far as I know there is no well-dated evidence for horse in Britain after
the early Holocene until late Neolithic/Bronze age, so it's likely that they
were reintroduced from Europe - I doubt that Exmoor ponies are indigenous in
that sense.They may well have similar characteristics to, say, Iron Age
horses, but how much that's due to phenotypic convergence and how much
actual genetic relationship is hard to say
Julie Hamilton
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art
Dyson Perrins Building
South Parks Rd
OXFORD OX1 3QY
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Tel: (01865 ) 285203
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