A woman buried more than 2,400 years ago in what’s now northwestern China has galloped into a scientific afterlife atop the earliest directly dated horseback riding saddle.
Researchers have radiocarbon dated the well-preserved, soft saddle to 727 B.C. to 396 B.C. Excavated at what’s known as the Yanghai cemetery, this expertly crafted piece of riding equipment is about as old as, or possibly older than, the previous record holders, archaeologist Patrick Wertmann of the University of Zurich and colleagues report in the September Archaeological Research in Asia.
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