Saddle Sore: Skeletal Occupational Markers of Habitual Horseback Riding

Abstract

Horses became a prominent part of everyday life for many tribes and communities many centuries ago. The horse has been used for transportation, war, and pleasure. These people who habitually used horses for all of these different functions show evidence of this within their skeletal remains in antiquity. The human skeleton can deform and change based on the amount of stress and activity put onto the bones. Seeing the affects of horseback riding on the human skeleton can help researchers, archaeologists and anthropologists find out more about the communities that they are looking at. The skeletons from antiquity and modern-day horseback riders can be affected in similar and differing ways, the body can start to form different growths or pits based on the level of stress. The human skeleton is amazing, but can give great insight into the lives of people everywhere.