Early evidence for mounted horseback riding in northwest China

Abstract

Horseback riding was a transformative force in the ancient world, prompting radical shifts in human mobility, warfare, trade, and interaction. In China, domestic horses laid the foundation for trade, communication, and state infrastructure along the ancient Silk Road, while also stimulating key military, social, and political changes in Chinese society. Nonetheless, the emergence and adoption of mounted horseback riding in China is still poorly understood, particularly due to a lack of direct archaeological data. Here we present a detailed osteological study of eight horse skeletons dated to ca. 350 BCE from the sites of Shirenzigou and Xigou in Xinjiang, northwest China, prior to the formalization of Silk Road trade across this key region. Our analyses reveal characteristic osteological changes associated with equestrian practices on all specimens. Alongside other relevant archaeological evidence, these data provide direct evidence for mounted horseback riding, horse equipment, and mounted archery in northwest China by the late first millennium BCE. Most importantly, our results suggest that this region may have played a crucial role in the spread of equestrian technologies from the Eurasian interior to the settled civilizations of early China, where horses facilitated the rise of the first united Chinese empires and the emergence of transcontinental trade networks.

Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Lehi Horse: Implications for Early Historic Horse Cultures of the North American West

“…Among those vertebrae that yielded osteophytes and new bone formation (T5, T13, and T16-L2), this bone growth was universally asymmetric, in favor of more developed bone spurs on the animal's left side (Figure 9). We have identified similarly pronounced asymmetry in ridden-horse assemblages from Eurasia (Li et al 2020). Asymmetric bias in equine skeletal damage may be related to rider handedness or riding technique (Taylor and Tuvshinjargal 2018), but it could also be influenced by consistent mounting from one side.…”

“…Asymmetric bias in equine skeletal damage may be related to rider handedness or riding technique (Taylor and Tuvshinjargal 2018), but it could also be influenced by consistent mounting from one side. Previously identified vertebral asymmetry in East Asian assemblages is clearly left biased (Levine et al 2005; Li et al 2020). Although many Native American horsemen are known historically to have mounted from the right side, it may be that this difference in weight bearing is caused by the handedness of the rider and the dynamics of mounted activities.…”

“…To us, however, this indicated an Indigenous presence at the location of the Lehi horse after burial. Moreover, our preliminary examination of the horse's vertebral column revealed osteophytes, cracking, and impinging spinous processes—pathological features that are not commonly observed in wild equids and that are typically associated with mounted horseback riding (Figure 4; Levine 1999; Li et al 2020). These findings raised the possibility that the Lehi horse was historic or protohistoric rather than Pleistocene in age.…”

Changes in Wood Utilization Due to Iron Age Jade Mining in the Western Hexi Corridor: Wood Charcoal Investigations

“…Bones of pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) are absent from archeological sites of this period in the Hexi Corridor, where they appear to have been replaced by grazing livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, and camels, indicating the establishment of agropastoralism (Yang et al, 2019). Horses and camels can be used for longdistance transportation, an advantage that can significantly expand the resource catchment area for people to exploit and obtain resources for production and daily life, including wood (Wu, 2002;Guo, 2012;Li et al, 2020). Recent data reveal that agropastoralism was much more common in the western Hexi Corridor during the Iron Age, e.g., the Shanma culture (Yang et al, 2019); thus, it is logical to assume that the JBR miners or other local people used traction animals to transport wood over long distances.…”

Rethinking the evidence for early horse domestication at Botai

“…This animal, the Przewalski’s horse, is today a wild species with threatened conservation status, and has never been managed or used for transport in the historic era. In light of continuing progress in our understanding of physiological and anatomical links between equine skeletal changes and human activity since the emergence of Botai consensus 12 – 14 , this discovery warrants a reconsideration of the argument for horse transport at Botai.…”