Late Roman/Sarmatian/Hunnic/Gothic Saddle

[garrelt]

Also interesting

The Roman cavalry horse and its efficient control.
By Ann Hyland
Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies 3 1992 page 73-79
ISSN 0961-3684

[Robert Vermaat]

This is a Late Roman hunting horse, as displayed on the so-called 'Seuso Plate', 4th c. AD, from Junkelmann, Marcus (1990-2): Die Reiter Roms, 3 vols., (Mainz), vol 3, p. 71, fig. 76.

[Robert Vermaat]

This is a (probably) Late Roman horse, as displayed on the Bishapur III reliefs, c. 260 AD, from Junkelmann, Marcus (1990-2): Die Reiter Roms, 3 vols., (Mainz), vol 3, p. 71, fig. 77.

[Robert Vermaat]

This is a Hunnic saddle, probably 5th AD. from Junkelmann, Marcus (1990-2): Die Reiter Roms, 3 vols., (Mainz), vol 3, p. 73, fig. 79.

[Robert Vermaat]

And number 4: the reconstruction of the Hunnic saddle, based on a find in 1881 of a nomadic grave in Mundolsheim. It's supposedly Hunnic, c. 430-460 AD, and the buried warrior is thought to have been either a warrior of Attila's army, or an East Germanci federate fighting for the Romans in Germania I, belonging to the top of Burgundian society.
(Musée de la Ville de Strasbourg, image from Die Franken, Wegbereiter Europas, die, catalogue, (Mainz 1996), p. 347, fig. 281).

[RobHarbottle]

Hi All,

This is excellent stuff. With what has been provided I can now go ahead and make the first saddles, confident that they are fairly accurate.

Robert, If I wasn't getting married I'd ask you!!!! Have a Laude. Many thanks,

Rob.

[Robert Vermaat]

Robert, If I wasn't getting married I'd ask you!!!!

Sorry Rob, I'm already spoken for. Besides, Rob and Robert, it would be too confusing! :wink:

[garrelt]

This group from Germany has made several saddles of this kind, Gruppe-group handwerk-sattelbau(german only).
For the riders seating and clearance for the horses spine, they put (between the pommel and the cantle) a piece o rawhide.

You see this construction also on later saddles (see picture).
from:
Europas mitte um 1000.
Alfred Wieczorek and Hans-Martin Hinz
Theiss verlag
isbn: 3-8062-1545-6 (8)
Page :229

Als you see saddles without this extra seat of rawhide.
Latest modern saddle is the McClellan of 1857.

In this you can see that the basic material and shape is in use for a long time, as with the modern mongolian saddles.

Hopefully there are somewhere in the world good pictures and drawings from excavated saddles

[Iosephus]

According to the text in the bottom-right corner this saddle was found in Kapolcs-Eperjesszög in Hungary and belongs to the Hermann Ottó Museum in Miskolc.

Btw. to me Grózer's saddle reconstruction looks very similar to this one (scroll down the equipment section):

http://www.grozerarchery.com/index_ac.htm

also these ones look quite the same:

http://www.tiszainform.com/foto/20060905101155.jpg

these are from Tiszafüred, where the most famous Hungarian hussar saddles were made during XVII-XIX century

[John Conyard]

These saddles also look very much like traditional Turkish saddles.

I feel the Steppe saddle is closer to the "horse archer" saddle at

http://felszerelesek.lovasijaszat.hu

except the angle of the crosspieces look much stepper on the steppe saddle.

I'd be interested in other opinions of these saddles.

[garrelt]

According to the text in the bottom-right corner this saddle was found in Kapolcs-Eperjesszög in Hungary and belongs to the Hermann Ottó Museum in Miskolc.

Correct the book where this scan is out was about Hungary,Romania, Poland and other parts from central Europe around 1000.

Robert as we talked about last Sunday.
Found the pictures see below, scanned them almost 5 years ago.
They are from the mid seventies.
A far as i know is it a reconstruction after a find in illirup, but i am getting the documentation soon.

[Paullus Scipio]

Just came across this thread !
If you are looking to reconstruct a steppe type saddle (i.e. arched type ) I would recommend to you Sergei Rudenko, "The Frozen tombs of Siberia". -the excavation of steppe nomad tombs at the Eastern end of the steppe.
A number of saddles were excavated intact, of two types, a low arched and a high arched type ( the latter a military type? ) and are fully described, with all the detailed parts illustrated - along with bridles, and full strapping etc.
An invaluable source, I should think ( not being an expert on saddles ! )

[garrelt]

Thank you Paul for the title of this book.

[Robert Vermaat]

Robert as we talked about last Sunday.
Found the pictures see below, scanned them almost 5 years ago.
They are from the mid seventies.
A far as i know is it a reconstruction after a find in illirup, but i am getting the documentation soon.

Hi Garrelt, thanks for the pictures. I never found a picture in the book we discussed. Illerup? Not Nydam?

So this was the 'all-wrong' reconstruction?

[John Conyard]

Aren't the photos from the Historical Archaeological Experimental Centre, Lejre? A seventh century saddle.