South Asian Archaeology 1999
From 5 to 9 July 1999, the International Institute for Asian Studies hosted South Asian Archaeology 1999 (SAA'99), the fifteenth in a series of biennial meetings which started in Cambridge back in 1967 as a rather informal get-together of European archaeologists working on South Asia. Gradually this conference has become one of the most important platforms outside South Asia for the exchange of new ideas and latest results of excavation and research by archaeologists and art historians working on South Asia and the Silk Road region.
By KAREL R. VAN KOOIJ & ELLEN RAVEN
The meeting was held in the heart of the old city of Leiden, where nearly 200 participants from Europe, the Unites States, South Asian countries, Japan, and Australia assembled at the premises of the Faculty of Arts. Convenor was Prof. Karel van Kooij who holds the special chair of South Asian art history at the Kern Institute of Leiden University. The other two members of the Organizing Committee were Dr Ellen M. Raven of the Kern Institute, and Prof. Hans T. Bakker of the University of Groningen, while the conference secretariat was co-ordinated by Drs Helga Lasschuijt of the IIAS.As usual, the paper-reading sessions spanned five days. Unlike in Rome in 1997, when the participants had to choose between 3 parallel sessions, the Leiden organizers preferred two sessions only; one on prehistory and historical archaeology; the second on historical archaeology, numismatics, epigraphy, and art history. The overwhelming response to the call for papers made it necessary, for the first time in the history of SAA, to carry out a selection process. Over 90 papers (of circa 20 minutes, with ample opportunity for discussion) were selected and scheduled. Abstracts were bundled in a handy abstract book (sent out in advance), which was accompanied at the conference by a neatly designed programme book.
The paper-reading sessions were alternated with sunny lunches in the nearby Botanical Gardens of the University (one of the oldest of its kind in Europe), receptions (by the Museum of Ethnology, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the Mayor of Leiden, the University Board, and the IIAS) and a dinner in one of the most beautiful and oldest churches of Leiden. The participants were also treated to a visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam to see the recently reinstalled Asian arts wing.
After the welcoming speeches, Prof. Maurizio Taddei of the Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples delivered the keynote address on a central issue of art historical discourse among South Asianists: 'Some reflections on the formation of the Buddha image'.
French archaeologists reported on their ongoing research in the Indo-Iranian borderlands and Baluchistan. The excavations at Mehrgarh for instance have now reached early-Neolithic levels of between 7000 and 6000 BC. For the first time architectural remains related to the very beginning of the Neolithic occupation here have been exposed and levels of graves revealed burials remarkable by the wealth and diversity of their grave goods.
Shards
A second focal point at the conference was the Indus Valley civilization (circa 2600-1750 BC). The papers ranged from news on pre-Harappa levels (the so-called Ravi-phase) to water-controlling devices at the Harappan site of Dholavira in Gujarat, Harappan household architecture, ceramics from Chanhu-Daro, and human skeletal remains from Harappa. Dr Richard Meadow explained how, from the beginning of the Ravi phase (circa 3300 BC), raw materials and finished artefacts from throughout the Greater Indus Valley made their way to Harappa. Among the spectacular finds from the early levels are shards engraved with signs. Some of these resemble signs used subsequently on artefacts from the Kot Dijian phase, and next on the famous Indus seals with its still undeciphered Indus script. The excavators believe that the relatively few signs recovered so far (only 17 shards with inscribed signs have been dug up so far) are part of a script from which the Harappan script eventually evolved.
Focusing on an equally early period were the papers clustered in the panel on 'Maritime trade of the Arabian Sea in the 3rd millennium BC', organized by Prof. Serge Cleuziou and Prof. Maurizio Tosi. A second panel, organized by Prof. Steve Sidebotham, offered the latest news and views on South Asian archaeological finds from Berenike, a Hellenistic-Roman port on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Since 1994 joint excavations by the University of Delaware and Leiden University have unearthed a rich array of artefacts (ceramics, beads, textiles, wood remains) and floral evidence which attests to contact with India and Sri Lanka throughout the Roman period.
Several of the remaining prehistoric papers focused on the Chalcolithic site of Balathal in Rajasthan, where stone and mud-brick fortifications have been found which are contemporary with the Indus cities more to the north. Other papers, focusing on Pakistan, led the participants from Chalcolithic pit dwellings in the Swat valley of Pakistan, along the Bala Hisar or 'High Fort' of Charsadda, the early historic mound of Akra near Bannu (NWFP), through the Darel valley on the Indus, to Hund, the last capital of Gandhara, and to the remarkable Salt Range temples which are stylistically related to the temples of Kashmir.
In a captivating story continuing from previous SAA conferences, the participants were treated to the latest news on excavations at the site of Gotihawa, in Nepal, by Italian archaeologists led by Prof. Giovanni Verardi. Gotihawa is one of the sites where the famous Indian emperor Ashoka Maurya (3rd century BC) erected one of the pillars engraved with his edicts. The Italian team is investigating whether the nearby stupa-mound goes back to his time as well. Likewise Dr Hans-Joachim Weisshaar reported on the joint Sri Lankan-German excavations within the citadel at Tissamaharama, the capital of the ancient Sri Lankan kingdom of Ruhunu. Recently a brick-built building of the 3rd-5th century AD was uncovered, leading to the recovery of many coins and beads.
Old-time favourite
The numismatic papers brought together in Section 2 highlighted several of the major coin types at one time circulating in the northern part of the Subcontinent: silver punchmarked coins from Mahasthangarh (Bangladesh), Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian coins from hoards found in the northwest, Kushana gold coins and their astonishing pantheon of deities, coins found in Gandharan stupa deposits; and the rather enigmatic gold coins that were issued in the northeast after the Gupta period, and for which Joe Cribb of the British Museum is at present developing a classification and chronology. South Asian epigraphy was represented by papers on inscriptions at Barabar from the time of the Mauryas, those from a Buddhist monastery at Godavaya (Sri Lanka, 2nd century AD), and texts on copperplates from the time of the Hun King, Toramana (6th century AD).
The Buddhist art of Gandhara, more particularly its iconography, is an old-time favourite of the SAA. The Leiden meeting included papers on Gandharan Jatakas and on Bodhisattva imagery. A wide range of papers focused on forms of visual arts from other regions and periods: sculptures in terra-cotta, sandstone, and metal; mural paintings in cave temples and in painting galleries of Rajput palaces; manuscript miniatures on palm-leaf and paper. Others dealt with purely iconographic themes. Focusing on many corners of the Subcontinent and on various periods, these papers reflected the kaleidoscopic panorama offered by South Asia for scholarly study and aesthetic enjoyment. Art history and its objects of study were visibly joined in the paper on early Indian chess pieces from Kanauj by Dr Hab. Renate Syed, when Mr Manfred Eder, chairman of the Forderkreis Schach-Geschichtsforschung in Germany showed several of such rare figures to the participants. The number of papers on architecture was fairly limited, with a few contributions on temple conservation, Jain temple architecture, excavations at a Buddhist monastery at Kashidhoo on the Maldives, and sultanate mosque architecture.
Traditionally favoured for the SAA are the art and archaeology of the Himalayan region and the Silk Road, and this year's meeting was no exception. Papers discussed the connection between the art of Kashmir and Tibet, terra-cottas from Gilgit, Nepalese temple architecture, western Himalayan and Tibetan painting on monastery walls and thangkas, and Tibetan inscriptions from Tabo (Himachal Pradesh). Central Asia was represented via textiles from Tumshuq, underground burials in Gonur (Turkmenistan), and Indian motifs in Sogdian art.
South India and Sri Lankan archaeology, art and architecture remained relatively underexposed in the conference, not least because of a few late cancellations of papers. The programme did, however, include papers on early ceramics, temple sculptures from Kanchi, Simhachalam, and Madurai, architecture (sacral or secular) from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka, the ancient cities of Vijayanagara and Kumbakonam, and ideology in archaeology and heritage management in South Asia.
Considering the large response and the many positive reactions of the participants afterwards, the Leiden conference may be considered a great success. The publication of the papers in its proceedings will be a great asset to the field of South Asian art and archaeology. *
Sponsors to the conference were, besides the IIAS: the Gonda Foundation, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Siences, the Research School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies, the Leiden University Fund, and the Prince Claus Fund.
Prof. Karel R.van Kooij and Dr Ellen M. Raven can be reached at: krvankooij@let.leidenuniv.nl and abiaraven@let.leidenuniv.nl