Horsepower 2023 Mongolia: Horsepower is a six-year project funded by a European Research Council Synergy grant. The aim is to create the first holistic account of the material basis for two major states: the Xiongnu in Mongolia and the Qin in China using cutting-edge methods across science, social science, and archaeology.

Three principal empirical elements will underpin the project.

Ancient DNA from horses - to reveal where they came from, what they looked like, how they behaved and were bred and herded, and how trade was organised between the steppes and the central plains of China.

Analysis of bronzes – to explore their origins in China and how they were then traded into Mongolia and recycled into other forms.

Excavations of archaeological sites in China, Mongolia, and the wider steppe – to bring new understanding to the role of the afterlife in different cultures, how ideas and artefacts flowed across Eurasia, as well as how hybrid cultures formed between the steppe and China, profoundly influencing both places.

I am attached to the project as photographer, filmmaker and educator. ‘Horsepower will include an innovative programme of public engagement and outreach, exploring the findings with a broad public particularly aiming to show that big historical and cultural questions can only be tackled in synergistic ways. The programme will also include exhibitions in Mongolian, Chinese and British museums.’