Art and Landscape, Buddhist Rock Sculptures of Late Antique Swat/Uddiyana

Author

Filigenzi; Anna

Year

2015

Publisher

Austrian Academy of Sciences Press

Language

English

Pages

ISBN

978-3-70017-241-3

Link

Last Update

24-Jan-2026

Keywords

Religion

Description

Rock art in general poses serious problems regarding analytical procedures and data interpretation. Given the particular placing of the carvings or petroglyphs, showing no physical correlation with other artefacts, we are unable to relate them – at least not directly – to any archaeological context which might serve as a basis for a reliable chronology.

The Buddhist rock sculpture of Swat is not an exception in this regard. Moreover, some unusual stylistic and iconographic features make its iconographic code even more difficult to decipher, and the lack of dedicatory inscriptions or of donors’ figures means we have none of the...