Horse Power: Interactions between China, Mongolia and the steppe 2000-0 BCE

马的力量是调查定居和移动的人之间的关系，他们的文明从公元前2,000年跨越数千英里的欧亚大陆。我们将联合收割机结合最前沿的科学方法，包括古代DNA、冶金学和放射性碳年代测定，以及有针对性的考古发掘，以解决这一首要的历史问题。目标空间涉及两个主要国家，蒙古的匈奴和中国的秦国。匈奴在公元前209年崛起，为移动的马背国家树立了榜样，直到1400年后蒙古人的崛起。秦朝于公元前221年统治中国，为中国的官僚国家提供了模式。两者都是通过当地的历史力量发展起来的，但也是在相互作用中发展起来的，这种相互作用为丝绸之路奠定了基础。马的力量的核心假设是，马从草原向南进入中国，而中国的金属则向北移动。正是通过这种交流，两个群体开始了人类历史上最早的国家形式。我们将对古代马的骨骼进行最先进的遗传分析，并根据当时生产的马的数量以及不相同的特征，如颜色，速度，大小等，揭示马的流动模式和选择性繁殖。核心假设的另一端植根于金属。中国拥有丰富的金属矿藏和庞大的人口，能够以金属的形式积累巨大的财富。作为回报，金属帮助中国实现了各种仪式、社会、文化和经济目的。Horse Power旨在通过跟踪金属从矿山到土堆-即从金属的来源到人工制品的最终埋葬环境-将考古学推向一个新的水平。此前ERC资助的项目FLAME已经收集了从Arc到长江流域青铜器的一万多个化学和铅同位素数据。这为追踪这些地区的金属流动奠定了重要基础。对金属物体的新的科学分析将集中在蒙古大草原上，因此要填补总体情况中最后也是最重要的空白。结合Horse Power推出的一套新的多变量统计模型，我们将识别和量化混合和回收，以说明过去社会中金属的更详细和真实的生命史。考古发掘是为科学分析提供可靠样本和解释数据提供背景的基础。作为有针对性的挖掘战略的一部分，Horse Power将挖掘大型石葬khirigsuurs和秦始皇陵墓群，调查蒙古和中国的一系列遗址，以恢复祭祀经济的长期历史，同时也为项目的其他成员提供更多的马骨，金属和测年材料样本。这项协调的测年计划还将采用有针对性和灵活的抽样策略，为该地区编制第一个跨世纪年表。除了学术调查外，另一个同样重要的目标是通过博客开发一个创新的公众参与、艺术和科普计划，播客以及兵马俑和英国博物馆的展览，与广大公众讨论我们的发现，特别是旨在展示这一伟大的历史和文化问题只能由具有不同文化和知识背景的团队以协同方式解决。

Horse Power is to investigate the relationship between the settled and mobiles peoples whose civilisations crossed thousands of miles of Eurasia from 2,000 BCE. We will combine the most cutting-edge scientific approaches, including ancient DNA, metallurgy and radiocarbon dating, together with the well-targeted archaeological excavations to address this overarching historical question. The targeted space involves the two major states, the Xiongnu in Mongolia and the Qin in China. The Xiongnu arose in 209 BCE and set the model for mobile horse-borne states through to the rise of the Mongols 1400 years later. The Qin took over China in 221 BCE, providing the model for the bureaucratic Chinese state down to today. Both developed through local historical forces, but also in interaction with each other, an interaction which set the basis for the Silk Road. The core hypothesis of Horse Power is that horses moved south into China from the Steppe, while Chinese metals went north. It is through this exchange that two groups started one earliest form of state in human history.We will apply the most advanced genetic analysis to the ancient horse skeletons and unravel patterns of flow of horses and selective breeding in terms of numbers of horses produced at the time, as well as characters that do not fossilize, such as their colour, speed, size, and more. The other end of the core hypothesis is rooted in metal. With rich metal deposits and massive population, China was able to accumulate enormous wealth in the form of metal. In return, metal helped China to achieve a variety of ritual, social, cultural and economic purposes. Horse Power aims to push archaeometallurgy to a new level by following metal from mine to mound - that is from the source of the metal to the final burial context of artefacts. The previous ERC funded project FLAME has assembled over ten thousand chemical and lead isotopic data of bronzes from Arc to the Yangtze River valleys. This created a vital foundation for tracing the flow of metal in these regions. The new scientific analysis of metal objects will be focused on the Mongolia Steppe, therefore to fulfil the last but also most important gap in the overall picture. Together the new set of multivariant statistical model promoted by Horse Power, we will identify and quantify mixing and recycling, in order to illustrate a more detailed and realistic life history of metal in the past societies. Archaeological excavation is fundamental to providing secured samples for scientific analysis and context for interpretation of the data. Horse Power will excavate both the large stone burials khirigsuurs and the First Emperor's mausoleum complex as part of a targeted excavation strategy investigating a range of sites in Mongolia and China to recover the long-term history of the sacrificial economy, but also to provide further samples of horse bones, metals and dating materials with excellent contexts for other members of the project to analyse. The underlying coordinated dating programme will also produce the first over-arching chronology for the region using both a targeted and flexible sampling strategy.In addition to academic investigation, another equally important target is to develop an innovative programme of public engagement, art and popular science through blogs, podcasts as well as exhibitions in the Terracotta Warrior and British Museums to discuss our findings with a broad public particularly aiming to show that big historical and cultural questions can only be tackled in synergistic ways, by a team with varied cultural and intellectual backgrounds.