Between Reality and Imagination

A Critical Typological Comparison between the Beads from the Early Historic site of Barikot and the Forms of Beads in Gandhāran Iconography

Abstract

The archaeologically well-surveyed, excavated, and documented site of Barikot (Swat Valley,
north-western Pakistan) has revealed a great range of material culture items from different areas and all chronological periods of the site. Various categories of ornaments including beads with both geometric and figurative forms have been found in the systematic excavations including from the cultural deposits linked to the Kushana phases of the settlement (1st – 3rd century CE), providing evidence of the cultural, economic, and artistic blooming of the Swat Valley at the time. From the same time and region, we find material evidence for the production and use of distinct stone art sculptures of male and female groups that are heavily bejewelled and are associated with the Gandhāran Buddhist tradition. We get the impression, based on the examination of the intricately carved ornamental objects, that traditions of personal adornment must have played an integral part in the identity construction and the daily lives of the inhabitants of the entire region during the Kushana periods. In order to try to verify this observation and reconstruct the
prevailing adornment practices of the people of this dynamic time, this article critically cross compares selected types of archaeological beads that have been recovered from the excavations at Barikot with the forms of ornaments decorating the Gandhāran art sculptures, building upon existing research carried out in earlier work. The shape, size, and style of the sculpted ornaments are critically cross compared with the archaeological evidence to determine if they are based on real prototypes or if they are simply symbolic or imaginative. The interpretations produced in this article not only offer new insight into how ornaments
were worn within the religio-cultural context of Gandhāra in the early centuries of the Common Era but also inform about the accurateness of iconographic depictions.