A space of mobility: the interregional dynamics of Buddhist artistic production as reflected in archaeological evidence

That Buddhism constituted in the ancient Asian world a dynamic vector of cultural exchanges is a well known fact. For centuries, the proselytistic nature of Buddhism overlapped vital trade and travel networks, and stimulated inter-regional phenomena of transmission and adaptation that made artistic forms spread and bounce back, modified and enriched, across long distances. The materiality of these complex cultural processes is however not yet adequately understood, since we depend on still partial archaeological records. In this paper some case studies will be examined, with special focus on the artistic ties between modern-day Afghanistan and Xinjiang during the second half of the first millennium CE.