Yanghai trousers (oldest known woven trousers)
Pantalones de Yanghai (pantalón tejido más antiguo conocido)
- Date
- c. 1300-1000 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Yanghai, Turpan, Xinjiang, China
- Credited to
- People of the Turpan Basin (Subeixi culture, horse-riding herders)
- Field
- Tools
What was discovered
Two-legged wool trousers woven in three pieces with almost no seaming, found in a horse rider's grave. They are the oldest known trousers and point to clothing designed for riding.
Published in 2014 (Beck et al., Quaternary International); radiocarbon-dated. Later trousers in Scythia and Persia are better known, but this is the oldest woven specimen.
What it led to
- riding clothing of the steppe peoples
- spread of trousers from Central Asia into China and Europe
- gradual replacement of tunics and skirts in men's dress