Horses as Cultural Heritage : The Cretan Horse

Authors

KLONTZA Věra

Year of publication 2025
Type Chapter of a book
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Description Probably none of us would connect the island of Crete with horses. Bronze Age Minoan civilisation or tourist resorts are more likely to be the first associations. However, Crete has developed a specific breed of horse, which is, in the literature, referred to as the Cretan Horse or Messara Horse (after the eponymous plain in the south of the island), and which the locals call the Yorgalidiko horse. The example of the Cretan Horse is intended to illustrate why the domestic horse (i.e., virtually the entire horse population living on earth) should be understood as cultural heritage, a cultural animal, and as a historical source

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