Archaeological excavations and surveys in Central and South Asia have been conducted since the mid-nineteenth century, mainly within the framework of colonial perspectives. Over the last few decades, systematic analysis of the data using a variety of approaches has continued to provide insight into the vast and complex cultures of these regions. Despite advances in studying previously excavated material alongside new data, relatively little is known about how multiple religions co-existed within these regions and how they interacted with one another. Beyond the inherent interest in these areas—rich in archaeological, visual, and textual sources—the study of multireligious interactions in ancient Central and South Asia can offer practical conceptual and methodological frameworks for scholars focused on other regions, especially those located at cultural crossroads such as the Eastern Mediterranean. The European Association of Archaeologists’ (EAA) monograph series ‘THEMES in Contemporary Archaeology’, thus provides an ideal springboard for bringing contemporary debates on pre-modern Central and South Asia to the forefront. In this volume, the discussions from our panel at the 28th EAA Annual Meeting in August-September 2022 have been expanded in the hope that they will encourage further theoretical and methodological explorations that contribute to more nuanced understandings of religious interactions.

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Introduction: Contextualising Multireligious Interactions in Ancient Central and South Asia

  • Ashwini Lakshminarayanan,
  • Marc Mendoza

摘要

Archaeological excavations and surveys in Central and South Asia have been conducted since the mid-nineteenth century, mainly within the framework of colonial perspectives. Over the last few decades, systematic analysis of the data using a variety of approaches has continued to provide insight into the vast and complex cultures of these regions. Despite advances in studying previously excavated material alongside new data, relatively little is known about how multiple religions co-existed within these regions and how they interacted with one another. Beyond the inherent interest in these areas—rich in archaeological, visual, and textual sources—the study of multireligious interactions in ancient Central and South Asia can offer practical conceptual and methodological frameworks for scholars focused on other regions, especially those located at cultural crossroads such as the Eastern Mediterranean. The European Association of Archaeologists’ (EAA) monograph series ‘THEMES in Contemporary Archaeology’, thus provides an ideal springboard for bringing contemporary debates on pre-modern Central and South Asia to the forefront. In this volume, the discussions from our panel at the 28th EAA Annual Meeting in August-September 2022 have been expanded in the hope that they will encourage further theoretical and methodological explorations that contribute to more nuanced understandings of religious interactions.