Horseback riding, asymmetry, and anthropogenic changes to the equine skull: evidence for mounted riding in Mongolia’s late Bronze Age (Appendix S1, Supplementary Appendix)

Summary

A primary obstacle facing the study of early horse transport is the challenge of identifying ridden horses in the archaeological record. While changes to the equine skull and dentition may help identify animals that were bridled and heavily exerted, these features are typically insufficient to distinguish riding mounts from animals used to pull vehicles. This paper suggests that asymmetric deformations to the equine skull, found on domestic horses, may be useful for identifying ancient ridden specimens in archaeological contexts. Contemporary nomadic herders in Mongolia use a bridle that pressures the skull in several places, typically riding with the reins held in the left hand. Preliminary analysis of modern and historical Mongolian horse skulls contexts suggests that this riding style could cause deformation and thinning of the left nasal bone and remodelling of the right margins of the premaxilla. A small sample of horses dating to the Late Bronze Age also displayed these patterns, a result that may help understand the ambiguous chronology of equine transport among early herding societies in the region. This research suggests that cranial asymmetry may help to distinguish riding mounts in the archaeological record, and complements a growing body of evidence that horseback riding was established in Mongolia by the Late Bronze Age.

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: -1200 to -700

Notes

General Note: Supplementary Appendix data for the following publication: Taylor, William and Tumurbaatar Tuvshinjargal. Horseback riding, asymmetry, and anthropogenic changes to the equine skull: evidence for mounted riding in Mongolia’s late Bronze Age. In Bartosiewicz and Gal (eds.), Care or Neglect? Evidence of Animal Disease in Archaeology. Oxford, Oxbow Books (forthcoming).

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