Peter_deT t1_jb92b78 wrote on March 7, 2023 at 10:05 AM

Reply to comment by PetsArentChildren in Humans Started Riding Horses 5,000 Years Ago, New Evidence Suggests by geoxol

Stirrups originated on the steppe quite late - 4th-5th century CE and spread both east and west. Before that, cavalry was still effective - as the Persians, Hannibal, Alexander and others showed. You could, with training, use spears and swords without falling off. The Sassanid Persians developed heavy cavalry, with high-cantled saddles, extensive armour and lances, before stirrups.

PetsArentChildren t1_jb93s22 wrote on March 7, 2023 at 10:26 AM

You’re right. I misunderstood my first source.

> After the creation of a special cavalry unit, the peoples of the ancient Near East and China made some innovations to the equine equipment in order to control their horses during fighting. The “martingale” collar was probably an innovation of the Near East, and stirrups were invented in ancient China.

On my first read, that sounded to me like these happened concurrently. Upon closer reading, the paper actually indicates China had cavalry 600 or more years before the stirrup. Thank you!