Sacred Site of Nimogram, Dt. Swat, Pakistan
This Gandharan Buddhist site was excavated by staff of the Pakistan Department of Archaeology and Museums (DOAM) in 1967 and 1968. The full report was never published but recently, I used photos and field notes to create a digital archive housed in the UW library of the artifacts found at the site. The paper will have two sections. First, I will discuss significant iconographic imagery from the site including some that adds to our knowledge of the full range of imagery utilized in this region. I will discuss possible links between artifacts found at Nimogram and others found in recent excavations of a joint Italian/Pakistani team at the nearby urban site of Barikot, at the sacred site of Saidu Sharif I, and the implications of these links. Second, I will discuss the process of creating the digital archive and make a case for the need for a web based hub linked to various on line sites containing Gandhara art. I believe this would further research on Gandharan art and culture from a region where recently, research access has been limited.
Joan A. Raducha, Ph.D. is an honorary fellow of the Center for South Asia. She conducted research in Pakistan on the Buddhist Gandharan site of Nimogram and its material remains over a period of thirty years. She is an Associate Dean Emerita of International Studies at the UW-Madison.