Scientists from the University of Zurich have discovered a 2,700-year-old leather saddle in a female tomb in China – it may be the oldest ever found and, along with other artifacts, proves that ancient nomads could have been professional riders. Research published Journal of Archeology.
The saddle, made about 2,700 years ago, was found in a woman’s grave at a cemetery in Yanghai in the Turfan Basin in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The woman buried here wore a leather jacket, wool trousers, and short leather boots. His body was positioned as if in a saddle. This indicates that she was a horsewoman and participated in herding and riding her people.
The Yanghai tombs are believed to belong to people belonging to the Subeixi culture who lived in the Turfan basin about 3000 years ago. These people had the same weapons, horse gear and clothing as the Scythians and probably came into contact with them in the Altai Mountains. But while the Scythians were nomadic, the Subeyshi horsemen were probably shepherds tending the herds of the Turfan Basin.
The saddle features two cowhide cushions filled with a mixture of straw, deer and camel hair, made between 724 and 396 BC, according to radiocarbon dating. Perhaps the first saddles in the world began to be made in Yanghai, where riders began to care more about comfort and safety, as well as the health of horses.