Why the Late Introduction of Stirrups?

[Tachikaze]

I suppose inventing the wheel and stirrup was kind of like inventing the computer, who would have ever thought that thousands of switches, working in conjuction through electrical signals, could eventually be compiled into simple binary numbers, which could eventually create more complex "normal" calculations, then be able to create text on a screen which allows it to create massive and stunning visual graphics, when even still all it is are thousands of tiny jolts of electricity making colors dance around on your screen. Often times thinking out of the box is difficult, especially 5000 years ago when the box still wasn't invented...

Actually, I would think that ease of mounting would be reason enough to develop them. The other benefits would be discovered as they experimented.

There is a lot of dispute to the Sarmatian vs. Chinese origin of stirrups. Early Chinese examples often have only one, presumably for mounting.

The advantage of stirrups for archery is very significant. In the days before stirrups, lances were often used for overhand thrusting, not cradled across the lap. This technique minimizes the benefits of stirrups.