Kushan ceramic culture through the excavations on Termez (Uzbekistan) and Balkh (Afghanistan)

Abstract

The world of Central Asia is made of mountains and plains which created traffic corridors for military conquests as well as migrations. Ceramic culture in these areas is thus the result of two components - nomad and urban - and their continuous juxtaposition. It constitutes, for the Kushan kingdoms, a symbol of these countries where heritages coming from the Bronze Age and Hellenism intertwine thanks to the conquest of Alexander the Great and Séleucos, but also from the contributions coming from the eastern limits of the Chinese world. We will not explain here the astonishing symbiosis of this culture, but rather set some chrono-cultural markers starting from the ceramic studies which were carried out from the last excavations at the archaeological sites of Termez (MAFOUZ of Bactria) and Balkh (French Mission of Bactria), and also from the symbolic cities of this period such as Surk Khotal, Dilberjin, Kampyr Tepe. Another goal is to understand the limits/borders of the Kushan and Bactrian area within these northern, southern, and western limits through the latest publications, and to provide analysis to better appreciate the interrelationship surrounding this culture.