About the Book These two volumes comprise a superb range of papers presented at the conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art (EASAA) which took place at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, at the start of July 2016. The volumes include thirty-eight papers with a total of fifty-five authors from across the globe. Volume I encompasses ground-breaking research on the archaeology, epigraphy and iconography of the Indian subcontinent and of the neighbouring countries of Central Asia, spanning a time-frame of approximately six-thousand years, bringing readers up to the fifth-century CE.

Beginning in the third century BCE and culminating in the twenty-first century, Volume II assembles a rich collection of papers on Buddhist, Hindu and Mughal architecture; on paintings of both a religious and secular nature; on sculpture; on heritage, and on the practice of making. p>

About the Authors Laxshmi Rose Greaves is a research associate in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion at Cardiff University. She is a historian of South Asian art and religion. Her current Leverhulme-funded project charts the emergence, evolution and dissemination of Ramayana temple imagery across the Indian subcontinent between the fifth and tenth centuries CE.

Adam Hardy is Emeritus Professor of Asian Architecture at Cardiff University. His publications include The Temple Architecture of India (2007), and Theory and Practice of Temple Architecture in Medieval India (2015). He is currently leading two research projects: 'The Nagara Tradition of Temple Architecture: Continuity, Transformation, Renewal' (Leverhulme Trust), and 'Tamil Temple Towns: Conservation and Contestation' (AHRC and ICHR).

Preface This edited volume is the outcome of the conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art (EASAA) which took place at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, at the start of July 2016. The following twelve panels were held across five days: Origins (prehistory); Prehistoric Central Asia and Pakistan; North West India and Environmental Studies: The Gupta and Vakataka Periods; Architecture: Heritage, its Conservation and Display: Medieval Settlement and Society: Painting: Prehistoric Seals, Scripts and Iconography; Oceanic Trade; The Early Historic Period: and Sculpture and Iconography. The papers span a period of over a million years, commencing with Paleolithic archaeology and culminating with 21st century Pakistani truck art. They advance knowledge of our field on many fronts, and the lively debates prompted by the talks at the Cardiff conference are sure to continue as the papers reach a wider audience.

Volume I of the proceedings is divided into three parts: Archaeology, Seals and Inscriptions and Iconography and Artistic Expression dating from circa the mid-sixth century BCE to the fifth century CE. The papers are organised as much as possible into a chronological sequence within each section. There is a notable emphasis in this volume on the archaeology and sculpture of Pakistan, in addition to papers on the history of Bangladesh, Chorasmia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Soqotra and India.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages