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Reposted by Kelsey Granger

Animal History @animalhistory.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

New Research! "An Equine Archive? Using Excavated Documents to Recover the Entangled Labor of Humans and Horses in China's Ancient Postal System" by Kelsey Granger (photo Gary Todd/Wikimedia Commons) online.ucpress.edu/ah/issue/2/2

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Loved doing this interview and sharing my favourite Han-dynasty postal horse names! 🐎🛞✉️ #animalhistory #Xuanquan

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Reposted by Kelsey Granger

Archaeology Magazine @archaeologymag.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

The horses had names like Calm at the Carriage, Podgy and Lumpy, and Mr. Red Horse, and they delivered messages along Han Dynasty China’s “Pony Express,” a remote corridor in the far west of the empire. archaeology.org/issues/july-august-2026/digs-discoveries/ancient-chinas-pony-express/

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Was great to share more about my research on China's Xuanquan Postal Station 懸泉置 in the latest issue of Archaeology Magazine @archaeologymag.bsky.social, including some of my favourite postal horse names from the edge of Han-dynasty China! 🐴✉️🛞 archaeology.org/issues/july-...

archaeology.org

Han China’s Pony Express - Archaeology Magazine

Bamboo slip and infrared image As part of a push to expand their empire into […]

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

4) Overall, these documents uncover how precarious ancient China's postal system really was and how it required both people and horses to work together in arduous conditions. Many more examples of what this meant in action for the horses and their drivers in the article:

online.ucpress.edu

An Equine Archive? Using Excavated Documents to Recover the Entangled Labor of Humans and Horses in China’s Ancient Postal System

This article seeks to expand the history of pre-industrial animal labor beyond the farmyard. Centering on China’s ancient postal system, it approaches a surviving corpus of over 20,000 excavated admin...

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

3) But some horses weren't so lucky - one slow horse was named Whip its Rear, highlighting how pressured and fast-paced the frontier postal service was. This job was hard on horses' bodies. Many horses were registered as lame or as having saddle sores, and one was even injured by a blade!

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

2) In the eyes of the law, horses were worth more dead than alive if they got injured on the job, and yet a 24-year-old horse Yarrow Elder enjoyed retirement at the end of his working life. Some horses clearly received special treatment!

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

This is very cool - I work on equine labour in postal work, but sadly in ancient China (1 cent. BCE/CE). LOVE this panel idea though! 🐎

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Rounding out 2025 with an essay for T'oung Pao discussing recent publications on Chinese animals, including books on talking parrots, sacred oxen, marital camels, and bathing elephants! It's definitely been an exciting year in an exciting field of research 🐉🐘🐫🐃🦜 brill.com/view/journal...

brill.com

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Excited to say that my article on horse names in China's ancient postal system has been published with Early China! 🐎✉️🌿 Meet Skittish Fish, Calm at the Carriage, and, my personal fave, Cinnamon Stick, at the link below: #animalhistory

cambridge.org

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Recently did a guest article with @sahavoice.bsky.social about presenting your research in the media as an ECR 📻📺📖 Media engagement can be a great training ground to learn how to present your research to people way outside your field - a much-needed skill for job interviews and grant apps!

saha.scot

Putting Your Research in the Spotlight: Media Engagement for Early Career Researchers Dr. Kelsey Granger | SAHA: The Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance

A joint initiative of Scottish Higher Education institutions, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities.

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Was amazing to be part of BBC R4's In Our Time talking about all things Dragon 🐲 If you want to know more about the Chinese zodiac, rain dragons, and The Dragon Boat Festival, you can listen online! 🐉 #inourtime #herebedragons #BBCRadio4

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Dragons

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss this ubiquitous mythical creature.

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

We were totally blown away by the interest in our first workshop, so thank you again to all applicants and participants! #casn2025 #casnmunster 🐯

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

My book review of "Insect Histories of East Asia" has just been published in the latest issue of Animal History 🪰🪲🐞 It's a fantastic issue with articles on saints, street dogs, and serpents, all of which you can read here: online.ucpress.edu/ah/issue/1/2

online.ucpress.edu

Volume 1 Issue 2 | Animal History | University of California Press

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Thanks Gregory, I'm loving it here - such a great community!

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

You can find out more about my current work here: www.iash.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-k...

iash.ed.ac.uk

Dr Kelsey Granger | IASH

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Kelsey Granger @kelseygranger.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Hi Bluesky 👋 I'm a historian of pre-1200 China and the wider Silk Roads, mostly looking at all things animal! 🐾 Currently working on papers related to postal horses, lapdogs, and pet parrots 🐎🐩🦜

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