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Why did humans start wearing pants? To answer this question it’s important to understand two things - first, what were the earliest forms of clothing and how did they evolve into pants and secondly, why did a need for pants develop? It is also helpful to define what is meant by pants - specifically a bifurcated garment for the bottom half of the body which covers from waist to the lower leg. This definition helps to differentiate from the earlier leggings which were often pieces of cloth or skins which were wrapped around the legs and then tied on with straps. Leggings were comprised of two separate garments. Ötzil the Ice Man, perhaps the most famous archaeological find of prehistoric human remains from the northern regions, was found wearing leggings.

From archaeological evidence, it is known that the earliest types of clothing were wrap skirts or aprons for both genders. The oldest known woven example is a fragment made from woven reeds found in Armenia and dating from approximately 2900 BCE. While this is just a fragment the construction hints to what the complete style would have looked like with a waistband woven in the opposite direction from the skirt. This is likely stylistically based off of earlier versions made from hides which do not survive to the modern day. Even earlier examples were of so-called string skirts which were comprised of a waistband with strings or pieces of grass hanging down - these skirts often tied like an apron and depictions can be found in art dating back nearly 20,000 years. In the present day this style is still seen in southeast Asian and other countries, for example, the sarong, a traditionally unisex garment. In colder climates, these could be paired with the previously mentioned leggings and a T-shaped tunic. These are all very simple garment that requires limited construction and materials. <ref>Douglas A. Russell, <i>Costume history and style</i> (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983), 2</ref>

The earliest existing pair of pants was found in China and dates to around 1000 BCE - within 1000 years of the time when it is believed horses were initially domesticated. These pants are constructed of wool with legs made of multiple panels. Experts believe due to the construction style of these garments that they were designed specifically for horseback riding rather than for warmth or protection from the underbrush. These garments show a more complex pieced construction than those tunics and skirts, with far more small parts stitched together instead of being a simple wrap or comprised of two simple shapes sewn to one another. These were garments which were specifically designed for a task rather than to protect the wearer from the elements.<ref>Ulrike Beck et al., "The invention of trousers and its likely affiliation with horseback riding and mobility: A case study of late 2nd millennium BC finds from Turfan in eastern Central Asia," <i>Quaternary International</i> 348 (2014): , doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.056.

==Development in the Western World==

Scythian warriors, both male, and female, from Central Eurasia, are depicted wearing tight fitting trousers in Greek art dating from the 6th centuries BCE.<ref>Susan Brown, <i> Fashion: the definitive history of costume and style </i> (New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2012), 15.</ref> Similar styles, consisting of a tunic and trousers have been found surviving in tombs. The Greeks wore a wrapped garment, the chiton, and viewed the wearing of trousers as something done by foreigners and females - some historians believe that the Amazons of Greek myth were at least partially based off of the female warriors of the Scythians. In these myths, the trousers come to stand as just one of the ways these warriors buck tradition.<ref>Mayor, Adrienne. <i> The Amazons: lives and legends of warrior women across the ancient world.</i> Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014, 96.</ref>

In the Roman world, the toga was the typical wrap garment for men on formal occasions. Casual wear consisted of a tunic. Earlier members of the military didn’t wear trousers, seeing them as effeminate like their Greek predecessors - however, the combination of being defeated by the trouser wearing Teutons, continued northern exploration, and increased usage of cavalry. The spread of the Romans also helped in spreading trousers throughout much of the area where they conquered. Many of these areas were at that point still wearing the separate leggings with a tunic and mantle - normally made of heavy wool.<ref>Douglas A. Russell, <i>Costume history and style</i> (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983), 77</ref>

==Conclusion==

The development of pants allowed for a greater range of freedom and movement. While this initially was just for the warrior and lower classes, specifically the males in many societies, over history the wearing of pants has come to symbolize not only a necessity of movement (as seen when worn by warriors or working peasants) but the choice to be active and to enjoy physical freedoms. Wearing pants showed cultural and societal changes not only in the ideas of what is masculine and what is feminine but also in what is expected of all members of society.

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