William Taylor

Dr. William Taylor serves as Assistant Professor and Curator of Archaeology at the University of Colorado, where he directs the Archaeozoology Laboratory at the CU Museum of Natural History and leads the Max Planck Society's Horses and Human Societies Project. His interdisciplinary work bridges archaeozoology, glacial archaeology, and emerging technologies to investigate human-animal relationships across continents.

Taylor's research focuses on horse domestication and its global impacts, with field projects spanning the Great Plains, American Southwest, Mongolian Altai, and Central Asian steppes. His methodological innovations integrate

• 3D imaging of skeletal remains
• Stable isotope analysis
• Glacial archaeology from melting ice patches
• Collaborative frameworks with Indigenous communities

to reconstruct ancient pastoral economies and equestrian technologies.

His publication trends reveal three dominant research trajectories:

• Equine domestication chronology - Reassessing Botai culture evidence and identifying early dental modifications
• High-altitude adaptation - Documenting horse use in Mongolian ice patches and Pamir Mountains
• Ethical curation - Developing frameworks for culturally informed stewardship of animal remains

These intersect with broader themes of climate change impacts on archaeological preservation and decolonizing museum practices.

Taylor actively recruits graduate students for projects involving

• Plains/Southwest historical archaeology
• Asian and Australian archaeozoology
• 3D technologies in museum studies

while establishing a ZooMS laboratory for biomolecular analysis of ancient proteins. His forthcoming book Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History has received acclaim in The New York Times and National Geographic for making complex archaeological science accessible to broad audiences.