<< >Donald Oddy:
>
><<Alternatively it may be a relatively recent change and previously they
wore
>leggings under their knee length tunics (AKA dresses). >>
>
> That would remain the only possibility - and I'm not at all convinced
>it's true.
I don't think there is any real evidence regarding the Inuit one way or the other. However the first evidence of trousers is on Assyrian carvings where horsemen are shown wearing what appear to be shorts while footmen and charioteers wear skirts. Since the Assyrians are the first known horseriders that implies a link and men's wearing of skirts has for centuries been restricted to areas where horse riding was uncommon. >>
Yet, according to a book I got yesterday, the Aztecs wore trousers (well, some of them did), and neither they or their ancestors would ever have ridden horses. So, whether or not its true of Europe and Asia, it can't be a universal truth, which was my original point.
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
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