Stories

Heather Clydesdale published an article “Buried Towers: Artistic Innovation on China’s Frontier” in Inner and Central Asian Art and Archaeology, published under the aegis of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. The article argues that the third and fourth-century practice of constructing a tall tower deep underground and at the entrance to tomb chambers performed specific functions for the living and the dead. Although the feature disappears from tomb construction in the fifth century, it’s spatial arrangement has an enduring influence on Buddhist architecture and sculpture in China’s Hexi Corridor, an important thoroughfare on the Silk Roads.

Inner and Central Asian Art and Archaeology