Earliest 'true' saddle in east Asia discovered (phys.org)

submitted 10 months ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/archaeology@mander.xyz

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[-] tinycarnivoroussheep@possumpat.io 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I wondered what the heck a "true" saddle was supposed to be, but it looks like they roughly defined it as a treed (wooden frame) saddle with stirrups attached.

I can't seem to parse whether the tree came before the stirrup -- it's implied but not stated -- but it looks like a single mounting stirrup was invented before paired riding stirrups. I've seen a Native American (Cherokee? IIRC dated about Removal Time) saddle that was basically just a tree, presumably used with blankets above and beneath for comfort, without any indication of rings for girth or stirrup attachment, but that doesn't rule out looping them through the gap between the tree bars (where the spine floats underneath).

It was/is a trend within the last decade or so to use a treeless saddle for more "natural" horsemanship (whatever that means), and I'm sitting here wondering what that means for stirrup attachment. Layered on top of the girth, I hope, for stability. Gonna go fall down the google-hole.

[-] tinycarnivoroussheep@possumpat.io 5 points 10 months ago

In the interest of horse-girl infodumping, I recall seeing some at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK, and luckily they have some pics for their online collection, thank you Gilcrease.

This one is the one I remembered offhand, with a high pommel and cantle (turns out it's not Cherokee): https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/84987

Here's one that used antler for the pommel and cantle, which I thought was neat: https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/84984

This one actually has stirrups, looks like the girth attachments are more sophicated than my Dunning-Kruger ass imagined, but the stirrup leathers are, in fact, looped over each of the wooden bars: https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/84985

this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023

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Archaeology or archeology[a] is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes.

Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time.

The discipline involves surveying, excavation, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Read more...

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