Indeed, the discovery of 3000-year-old trousers in a Chinese burial must be a pretty intriguing find. Working in the ancient Yanghai graveyard in China’s Tarim Basin, a team of experts has discovered what looks to be the oldest example of wearing pants. The Yanghai tombs are a large, ancient cemetery that covers around 54,000 square meters, or 580,000 square feet. The team has published a paper in the journal Quaternary International explaining the pants and why they were probably developed to help with riding horses.
The Yanghai tombs, located in the Tarim Basin in western China, are a well-known ancient burial site that dates back thousands of years; more than 500 individual burial grounds have been excavated thus far.
In this most recent find, two adult males, who were likely herders and warriors and who were both about 40 years old when they died, were found wearing trousers. Based on carbon dating, the material’s age was established at approximately 3000 years ago, making this the first known instance of trousers being worn. Researchers found that the fabrics’ yarns and the threads used for the final stitching matched in color and quality. This suggests that the tailor and weaver were either the same person or that they worked together very well. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the pants’ age, and it makes sense that their style was a little out of date by today’s standards.
Many historians think that the purpose of trousers was originally to protect riders’ skin from irritation and pain when mounted for extended periods. A wooden horse bit, a whip, a bow, and a battle axe were found in the tomb with the remains; these artifacts, combined with the way the pants were cut, imply that the pants were produced and worn to facilitate longer-distance horseback riding.
Furthermore, they imply that trouser design had progressed to the point where custom tailoring was possible. Both examples were made from three pieces of material (sized to fit a specific individual), one for each leg and a crotch piece, each with an attached belt made of strings; no cutting was necessary. Additionally, each pant leg featured cross stitching that seemed to have a solely aesthetic purpose.
For unknown reasons, other people have embraced the theory that pants first appeared as equestrian apparel since prolonged horseback riding can irritate and pain the skin. Clothing, bones, and other artifacts have been preserved for thousands of years in the Tarim Basin thanks to its hot, dry climate.
Its changes likely occurred because riding pants are not very comfortable for walking or going about daily activities. Before trousers, people, male and female, wore tunics, robes, togas, etc. It is also generally accepted that humans first began to ride horses about 4000 years ago, meaning that wearing trousers was prevalent long before the two men in the Yanghai gravesite donned theirs. According to some historians, these are Fartacus’ pants from the Roman Empire.
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