Horseback riding, horsemanship and chariotry in Northern China in the II-I millennium BC

The initial stage of mastering horse riding has not been archaeologically recorded in eastern steppes of Eurasia, however, horse and chariot complexes which suddenly appeared during the Shang Kingdom period (approximately the 13th century BC) are of special interest. Evolution of horse equipment continued for over three millennia. Many written sources surviving in China since the Late Bronze Age can be used for research along with large number of burials remaining from cattle breeders in North China and Xinjiang. In recent years, many archaezoological studies have been carried out in these regions. Comprehensive analysis of these diverse sources has made it possible to formulate some clarifications to the traditional view on the origins of horsemanship in China. 1) According to written sources and archaeological evidence, some groups of “barbarian nomads” on the borders of China started using chariots even earlier than this happened in Shang Kingdom, and used them until the 2nd century BC. The most interesting examples refer to the funerary rite of the Xirong tribes (Yanglang culture). 2) In China, just as in Western Asia, horseback riding was already known at the initial stages, but was used rarely, only in extreme situations. Up to the 5 th century BC, horseback riding in China was not common and was not a part of combat. Cavalry became to be used only after facing immediate threat from mounted nomads. In China, this reform began from the northern kingdoms in the late 4th century BC. However, in terms of its share, for a long time, cavalry was only a small part of Chinese army. The number of horsemen in the army increased exponentially only in the 2nd century BC when there was a real threat from almost immediate emergence of the nomadic Xiongnu empire.