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Monumental Entrance to Gandharan Buddhist Architecture
No full textThe article presents a series of pieces excavated by the ISMEO Italian Archaeological Mission in two Buddhist sacred areas in Swat (Pakistan). The pieces are chosen for their connection to the theme of monumental entrances of cultic buildings. In the first case (Gumbat), the building is a shrine. In the second, (Amluk-dara) it is a Main Stupa. The pieces belong to three different entrance parts: lower sides of the stairs, decorated steps or stair-riser friezes, and decorated frames of doors. Pieces like these, which belong to specific architecture, can be hypothetically positioned in their places, allowing thus a more vivid reconstruction of the original appearance of the monuments. The decorative apparatus of the entrances to Buddhist monuments, although apparently extraneous to the religious language, is not less rich than the Buddhist iconographic programme illustrated on the stupas or inside the shrines. The second part of the article deals with the interpretation of the language of the entrance as ‘symbolic capital’ of the political élites, who were the donors of the great Buddhist architecture in Swat
The Archaeology of Gandhāra
No full textThe main themes of archaeological research in Gandhāra are currently developing along a timeline that starts in the Late Bronze Age and ends in the Shahi period. The majority of scholarship, however, is focused on the chronological phase between 150 BCE and 300 CE. Because of the unbalanced level of studies, it is not easy to define what archaeology can positively say about the knowledge of the ancient world in this corner of Asia. However, the overall result of archaeological research in Gandhāra shows that the region was itself a center, not simply a frontier region of interaction between Central Asia and Iran, India, and its coastlands. Gandhāra appears to have played a central role in many of the developments that occurred throughout the period considered here. With the spread of domesticated rice during the mid-2nd millennium, a double-crop agricultural system and associated farm breeding system developed, linking Gandhāra with Kashmir and trans-Himalaya. Toward the end of the 1st millennium, the northern valleys saw the diffusion of burial and settlement features and associated material culture, which allows archaeological and genetic comparisons with earlier complexes of Central Asia and Iran up to 1000 CE. The initial urban phase in Gandhāra (500–150 BCE) is defined by the evidence from Barikot, Bhir Mound (Taxila I), and Charsadda. Mature urban phases (150 BCE–350 CE) are defined by the evidence of the restructuring of old cities (such as Barikot) and new urban foundations (e.g., Taxila III and Charsadda/Shahikhan-dheri) during the phases of contact with the Indo-Greek, Saka-Parthian, Kushana, and Kushano-Sasanian systems of power. During the last three centuries of the mature urban phase, the Buddhist art of Gandhāra developed a narrative biographical mode, which represents its most distinctive feature. The following period until 650 CE, distinguished by uncertain or scarce assemblages, is defined as post-urban. The post-650 to c. 1000 CE evidence, marked by cultural material associated with the Shahi dynasties and the first phase of contact with the Islamic dynasty of the Ghaznavids, defines the late ancient period
Jiantuoluo Yishu Tanyuan《犍陀罗艺术探源》[At the origin of Gandharan Art]
No full textA summary of the Italian archaeology in Swat and its contribution to the Gandharan studie
Swat after the Indo-Greeks – the City, the Sanctuaries and the Economy. An Archaeological Overview on the Saka-Parthian period
No full textThe article presents an overview of the archaeological data (updated to 2021) from the recent excavations at
Barikot, Swat (Pakistan), and preliminary results from ongoing studies of the other archaeological evidence
related to the post‐Indo‐Greek phases in Swat and Gandhara (ca. 50 BC–50 AD). The article introduces some of
the most distinctive markers of material culture in this context, as well as the evidence of new fortifications
and building activity both in urban centres and Buddhist sanctuaries. The data collected thus far underpin
a new interpretation of this little‐known historical phase of ancient northwestern India. The phase is characterized
by a building program and political vibrancy, which do not correspond with the model of an economic
recession advanced by scholars thus far. Indeed, in this framework, the so‐called ‘Great Debasement’
attributed to Azes II, might have had alternative implications
Mount Aornos and the Operations of the Macedonian Army in Swat. Sources and Archaeological Data
No full textThe following notes are meant to contribute to the debate on the whereabouts of the Indian Aornos conquered by Alexander the Great. The article presents some new viewpoints from both field archaeology and literary sources. The integrated approach of historical geography, literary exegesis, and field archaeology can be particularly fructuous when the archaeology contribution is based – as in this case - on sound and reliable stratigraphic information. The ancient geography angle is approached in this article from the hodological viewpoint, which may give new answers to old problems
Swat after the Indo‑Greeks – the City, the Sanctuaries and the Economy. An Archaeological Overview on the Saka‑Parthian period
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Tracce di strumenti e organizzazione del lavoro su elementi scolpiti gandharici da Saidu Sharif e Panr (Swat, Pakistan) conservati nel MNAO
No full textStudio paleotecnologico preliminare delle tracce di strumenti sulle sculture gandhariche della collezione del MNA
Jiantuoluo Yishu Tanyuan《犍陀罗艺术探源》[At the origin of Gandharan Art]
No full textA summary of the Italian archaeology in Swat and its contribution to the Gandharan studie
Jiantuoluo Yishu Tanyuan
No full textIl volume costituisce una presentazione per il pubblico cinese dell'approccio archeologico italiano allo studio dell'arte del Gandhara, basato sulle ricerche della Missione Archeologica Italiana nella valle dello Swat (Pakistan)
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