Abstract
Across Eurasia, horse transport transformed ancient societies. Although evidence for chariotry is well dated, the origins of horse riding are less clear. Techniques to distinguish chariotry from riding in archaeological samples rely on elements not typically recovered from many steppe contexts. Here, the authors examine horse remains of Mongolia's Deer Stone-Khirigsuur (DSK) Complex, comparing them with ancient and modern East Asian horses used for both types of transport. DSK horses demonstrate unique dentition damage that could result from steppe chariotry, but may also indicate riding with a shallow rein angle at a fast gait. A key role for chariots in Late Bronze Age Mongolia helps explain the trajectory of horse use in early East Asia.
Highlights
Domestic horses (Equus caballus) facilitated the emergence of highly mobile pastoral lifeways and the transcontinental equestrian empires of the steppes of Mongolia and eastern Eurasia
We present unique damage patterns in early domestic horse remains from Mongolia, and suggest that early horse transport in the Eastern Steppe entailed fast gaits and shallow rein angles, along with a high frequency of ‘bit-grasping’ that would have hampered control by riders
Rein angle While comparison of modern and archaeological riding and chariot horse dentition suggests that concentrated damage to the lower premolars might be an archaeological correlate of mounted horseback riding, the patterns identified in our Deer Stone-Khirigsuur (DSK) sample—with damage focused on the upper dentition—are more difficult to interpret
Summary
Domestic horses (Equus caballus) facilitated the emergence of highly mobile pastoral lifeways and the transcontinental equestrian empires of the steppes of Mongolia and eastern Eurasia. Understanding early horse transport in eastern Eurasia through analysis of equine dentition loss along the diastema, chipping of the enamel and remodelling of the bone at the alveolar margin of the premolar, and even damage to the bones of the palate These forms of damage are influenced by the type of bit and bridle used, the behaviour and technique of the horse and of the rider, the type and duration of activity performed, the shape of the horse’s head and mouth and the age and sex of the horse (Bennett 2005; Manfredi et al 2005; Bendrey 2007; Cook 2011). Other instances of upper premolar wear to both enamel and cementum in our analysed sample imply the use of a hard bit (perhaps bone, antler or even metal), similar to equipment recovered from later first-millennium BC contexts in Mongolia (Chan 2018: 87)
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