Chariots, their development, and their tactics

[Alanus]

A very interesting thread. mile:

The "nameless community" of the chariot's birth is now called Sintashta, Russia. The info in the time of King Wu was probably compiled in the Spring & Autumn Period, as this is not Emperor Wu Di but someone earlier. By the Three Kingdoms Period (corresponding to the Imperial Roman era), the use of chariots had diminished to the cavalry's favor... just as it had in the West. I don't think we'll find much detail in the Vedas for the usage/tactics of chariot warfare (they are religious texts), but there may be information in the Mitanni records which are the oldest Indo-European references to handling chariots.

Interesting, is the Chinese use of halbreds. Quite effective, I would think. The chariot is shown in historical context in several Chinese movies. Even The Three Kingdoms, which doesn't depict weapons accurately, does show a large chariot with a repeating and massive crossbow. Sort-of an ancient machine-gun.

I don't see any problems with reviewing earlier or corresponding weapons/tactics other than Roman here on RAT. Everything is connected. When a sword invented in China arrives in 1st Century Rome, we have to look at the route it took. :whistle:

[Michael Kerr]

Hi Sean, I had a look at bibliography on back of her book. She cites Mary Aiken Littauer for her books or articles
1. Rock Carvings of Chariots in Transcaucasia, Central Asia & Outer Mongolia from Selected Writings On Chariots, Other Early Vehicles, Riding & Harness.
2. The Function of The Yoke Saddle in Ancient Harnessing from same book as above
3. The Military Use of The Chariot in the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age from the same book
4. Early stirrups from same book
Also Mary Aiken Littauer & Joost H. Crouwel
1. The Origin & Diffusion of The Cross-Bar Wheel? Antiquity.s
2. Wheeled Vehicles & Ridden Animals in The Ancient Near East.
3. Chariots & Related Equipment from the Tomb of Tut'ankhamun.a
4. The Origin of the True Chariot from Selected Writings On Chariots, Other Early Vehicles, Riding & Harness.
The selected writings book looks good. Is this the publication that you were referring to? She doesn't address the problems you mentioned as she writes mainly about the domestication & use of horses & their impact on Steppe societies & mentions chariots in the middle of her book but not in great detail. Mainly writes that Hittites ruled the roost in chariot warfare for about 500 years. I was thinking of the 3rd person in the chariot being a lancer but it would be hard to hold a shield & a lance & stay balanced on a fast & bumpy chariot unless they were secured in some way but it would be a hairy ride so I see your point about a lancer. Is this the article you were referring to as book seems expensive.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/downloads/ar...e_2010.pdf

Peter thanks for the links some interesting stuff about Chinese warfare & chariots.


Regards
Michael Kerr

[Dan Howard]

Littauer and Crouwel proved pretty conclusively that it is impossible to charge with a lance from a chariot. Beal's PhD argued pretty convincingly that the Hittites used their chariots as archery platforms just like everyone else at the time and were not lancers like Greenhalgh claimed. I'm not sure how the Chinese halberds were used but it was not to charge the enemy like a cavalry lancer. I would guess it was used to fend off infantry and to disable the horses of enemy chariots.

The paper by Archer is a pretty good survey of the various studies into the subject. All of them are flawed because they assume that chariot warfare remained unchanged from the time of Kadesh and Megiddo through to the alleged time of the Trojan War. When it is acknowleged that warfare evolved over those two centuries, it becomes perfectly reasonable to say that Bronze Age chariots were used both as archery platforms AND battle taxis since different time periods are involved. The former predominated in the 14th-13th century but the latter was the norm by the 11th-12th century (using the old chronology).