Testing the Pre-Medieval Stirrup Paradigm: A Bioarchaeological Research Hypothesis Based on Lower-Limb Skeletal Biomechanics

This concept paper proposes a bioarchaeological approach to independently testing the conventional chronology of stirrup or foot-support technology in Roman horsemanship. The central hypothesis is that habitual riding with and without foot support produces different biomechanical loading conditions in the lower limbs and that prolonged exposure to these conditions may contribute to distinguishable patterns of skeletal adaptation. If such differences can be experimentally and osteologically validated, comparative analysis of pre-Roman, Roman, post-Roman, and documented equestrian populations could provide an independent means of testing whether Roman habitual riders are biomechanically more consistent with supported or unsupported riding. A secondary research question concerns the evidential value of Roman equestrian iconography and whether conventions of idealisation, bodily control, and virtus may have influenced the representation of riding equipment. This deposit records the formulation of a research hypothesis and conceptual framework. It does not present empirical results and does not claim to demonstrate the use of stirrups by Roman cavalry.