Nicola Di Cosmo

Nicola Di Cosmo studied Chinese and Inner Asian history in Italy (Venice), the United States (Indiana University) and Cambridge, England, and taught at Harvard University and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) before joining the School of Historical Studies of the Institute for Advanced Study in 2003. His interests in the ancient world include the archaeology and early history of nomadic peoples in East and Central Asia, the rise and development of “steppe empires,” and the material and cultural exchanges between China and Inner Asia.  The publications most relevant to the ancient world are:  “Ancient Inner Asian Nomads: Their Economic Basis and Its Significance in Chinese History” in The Journal of Asian Studies, 53.4 (1994):1092‑1126;Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History (Cambridge 2002); and  “Ancient City-States of the Tarim Basin” in A Comparative Study of Thirty City-State Cultures, ed. Mogens Herman Hansen (Copenhagen 2000): 393-407.

http://www.ias.edu/people/faculty-and-emeriti/di-cosmo