Hard riding no saddles or stirrups

[caravus]

Perhaps few are interested in this obscure topic of the 1st C Roman hackamore (and in fact the bridle as a whole) but can someone who does know about these things please direct me to any published paper which goes into the details of the archaeological evidence supporting the particular bridle reconstruction on show in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen and illustrated here.


I am particularly interested in the use and positioning of the narrow buckles which are shown on the straps in this reconstruction. This type of buckle is well-attested in the archaeological reports of 1st C forts and they were clearly used for cavalry harness straps, but how do we know they were used on the bridle?

Have perhaps two or four buckles like this been found somewhere in association with a hackamore and bit only, and in a context where no other harness fittings (like strap junctions, phalerae, harness pendants) were found? I can't find such a reference.

The bridle reconstruction of of Lawson, A.K. in 'Studien zum römischen Pferdegeschirr', Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 25, 1978, p 131-72 on page 144 shows one without any buckles at all.

Papers on reconstruction of Roman horse harness in general usually concentrate on the arrangement of fittings for the horse's "body" and do not seem to go into any kind of detail for the "head".

Any information gratefully received.