Implements and Machines
Horse Collar
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The padded loop that lets a horse throw its shoulders into a load instead of choking against a strap. Invented in China in the early medieval period, with its earliest depiction dated 477 to 499 AD, and established in Europe by about 1000, it roughly tripled what a harnessed horse could pull, from about half a ton under the old throat-girth harness to about a ton and a half. That difference put the faster horse in front of the plough across medieval Europe, one of the quiet mechanical hinges of agricultural history.
Facts
Disputed
Introduced YearThe earliest surviving depiction of the fully rigid, padded collar harness is a Dunhuang cave mural (cave 257) from Chinese Northern Wei art, dated 477 to 499 CE; the collar harness reached Europe by around 1000 CE and was common there by the 12th century. An earlier breast-strap trace harness, a precursor rather than the same device, is attested in China by the 4th century BCE, so whether the mural depicts a genuinely new invention or an older device finally captured in surviving art remains debated among historians of technology. OriginInvented in China in the early medieval period; earliest depiction in Northern Wei art of 477 to 499 AD, established in Europe by around 1000 AD and common by the 12th century. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Roughly tripled a harnessed horse's effective pulling capacity over the throat-girth harness
Sources
1. Horse Collar (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section; origin and pulling-capacity comparisonQuote, Lead section; origin and pulling-capacity comparison
A horse collar is a component of horse harness designed to distribute the force of a load evenly across a horse's shoulders and chest.
1. Horse Collar (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory sectionQuote, History section
the earliest legitimate depiction of it in art is on a Dunhuang cave mural (cave 257) from the Chinese Northern Wei dynasty, the painting dated to 477-499 AD
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