Horse Color Genetics in the Neolithic/Copper Age
At the end of the Neolithic Era and the beginning of the Copper Age, horses with a black coat color phenotype appeared in Europe and around the Iberian Peninsula. Because the fossils from this time period are younger than those found in the Late Pleistocene Era, more intact DNA was present and more fossils could be successfully genotyped. However, no Asian fossils from this time period were found, so no data is available to depict the phenotype ratios for Asian horses during the Neolithic/Copper Age.
Using the fossils acquired, we can conclude that nearly half of the horses during the Neolithic/Copper Age exhibited the Bay phenotype, and half exhibited the new Black phenotype.