Quote:Alanus, would it be possible to have some specific references for "large" horses excavated from the Scythian kurgans?
Thanks in advance,
JC
Moi, is your Avatar horse about 14 hands? Just a guess, but as you pointed out-- taller is not equated with better. I was talking about "large" horses developed to carry a cataphract, along with his armor and weapons. We know from archaeological finds that 2 sizes of war horse existed, a large one for heavily armored cavalrymen and a smaller one used mainly by archers.
For John, here are a few references:
Professor Anthony, a knowledgeable horse person, discusses the earliest domesticated horses, c 2,500 BC, and notes that steppe examples were larger than Western European ones.
"Horses from Dereivka, in the central steppes of Ukraine were bigger... 75% stood between 133 and 137cm at the withers, or between 13 and 14 hands. The horses of Botai in northern Kazakhastan were even bigger, often over 14 hands." (David Anthony, The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, 2007, pp. 202-203.)
I mentioned the elite warrior's horses in the Altai. From Jettmar, we find this on the Pazyryk examples buried from the 6th to 4th centuries BC. Here are the horses from Kurgan I,
"There are ten geldings, which were evidently treated with elaborate care and had a strong tradition of breeding behind them." Karl Jettmar, Art of The Steppes, 1967, p. 122) Anywhere from 5 to 22 horses (in 2 breeds) were buried with their various owners at Pazyryk, and we get more from Barkova,
"Tall (more than five feet), well-proportioned, swift horses, similar to the modern Akhal-Teke' breed, were buried with highly decorated trappings..." (Luidmila Barkova, Section III, The Golden Deer of Eurasia, 2001, p. 244). The same horses are mentioned by Brzezinski and Mielczarek,
"... the Scythians also used a quality breed averaging 15 hands (150 cm) and similar to the modern Russian Akhal-Teke-- though this was confirmed mainly to noble burials." (The Sarmatians, 2002, p. 35)
As I mentioned, these larger mounts were developed specifically for heavy cavalry use. Later, in the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC, these same ideal cavalry horses were sought by the Chinese,
"When the Wusun came with their horses, which were of excellent breed, he [Emperor Wu-Di] named them 'heavenly horses.' Later, however, he obtained the blood-sweating horses from Dayuan [from the Yue-chi or Tokarians], which were even hardier." (Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, Watson trans., 1993, p. 240)
In the early 2nd century AD, Emperor Hadrian followed Wu-Di's suit, receiving his favored warhorse from the king of the Roxolani. The incredibly long history of horse breeding by steppe peoples preceded large Persian and Roman mounts by over two millennia. The frozen kurgans at Pazyryk are the most famous examples, but sophisticated breeding extended throughout Eurasia, and these horses were a major income for the steppe tribes. Some Wusun nobles owned herds of upwards to 5,000.
The antiquated idea that steppe people made their living solely by rapine is a hard myth to break. They were horse breeders and tin merchants. It wasn't my intent to hijack this thread, but the question was asked and answered.
Today, the hardy and short-necked [V]Andelusian breed appears as a prime, if not undocumented, example. However, modern breeds with a "white-spotted" color strain do appear to come from a steppe heritage. Here is an illustration of Emperor T'ai-Tsung's personal Heavenly Horse, a goodly-rugged animal complete with crenelated mane, a steppe innovation:
[attachment=9981]heavenlyhorse025-1.jpg[/attachment]
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb