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BIT (TYA 283: 20)
Type: Bit for a mount horse, iron.
Use: To rein a horse.
Site: Raisio, Ihala, Siiri cremation cemetery I.
Period: Viking Age
Dating: 800-1025 A.D.
Size: 18.3 cm x 4.6 cm.
Photographer: Arto Korhonen.
The earliest ostheological proofs of the horse as a domestic animal can be traced back to the Early Bronze Age, (i.e., to the years 1000-500 B.C.). The horses of the Iron Age were smaller than today's horses. Their height was possibly just around 120 - 130 cm.
The horse was used as a beast of burden and draught as well as a mount on travels, and in war. In the summer, long journeys by land were done on horse because there were very few roads for vehicles. Goods could be transported with a horse of burden, or with a crotch. In the winter, probably sleighs were used too.
Bits and other riding utensils appear in burials dated to the 6th century, (i.e., in the late Migration and early Merovingian period). Bits have been found in men´s, and more rarely, in women¨s graves.
Archive number of items:TYA 544: 205.
Other related pictures:
Other related topics:
Coordinates: x=190, y=15, z=17.90, r=40/48, 2nd layer.
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