2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Identification and examination of iconographic material of "the Hephthalite period" from Bamiyan, Sogdiana and Kucha

Research Project

Project/Area Number	20720024
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Aesthetics/Art history
Research Institution	National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo
Principal Investigator	KAGEYAMA Etsuko National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, 文化遺産国際協力センター, 特別研究員 (20453144)
Project Period (FY)	2008 – 2010
Keywords	中央アジア / ソグド / エフタル / 図像
Research Abstract	Among the iconographic material from Central Asia, especially from Bamiyan, Sogdiana and Kucha, those which are supposed to be made in the Hephthalite period (from the second half of the 5^<th> century to the first half of the 6^<th> century) were identified based on the type of dress and crowns and on the expression used to depict figures. Wearing a long robe with its right collar folded could have become popular during the Hephthalite period. It is possible that paintings in which figures are wearing such robe are dated to the second half of the 5^<th> or the first half of the 6^<th> century.