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| In Memoriam | [iii] |
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| Langdon Warner at Dunhuang: What Really Happened? | 1 |
| by Justin M. Jacobs | Download |
| A re-examination of the failure of Harvard art historian Langdon Warner’s second expedition to Dunhuang reveals that, contrary to his later assertions, it was not the result of sabotage by Chen Wanli, the young Chinese scholar who had been assigned to accompany Warner. The article is based on a re-examination of Chen’s diary and other Chinese documents and material in the Stein Collection in the Bodleian Library. |
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  | Metallurgy and Technology of the Hunnic Gold Hoard from Nagyszéksós | 12 + Plates I, II |
| by Alessandra Giumlia-Mair | Download |
| Metallurgical analysis by X-Ray Fourescence Spectrometry and microscopic examination reveal interesting details about the composition and fabrication of a burial hoard unearthed at Nagyszéksós in Hungary that was probably the grave of a Hunnic chief. The article is the first published technical analysis of the hoards but is also of interest for drawing in a wide range of comparative material, including important artefacts found at Boma in the Ili Valley of Western Xinjiang. |
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| New Discoveries of Rock Art in Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor and Pamir: A Preliminary Study | 36 + Plates III, IV |
| by John Mock | Download |
| Archaeological survey and excavation in the Wakhan region of the Afghan Pamir are still in their infancy. The article documents a number of interesting rock art sites which have not been previously published. Of particular interest are the images of wild yaks. |
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 | On the Interpretation of Certain Images on
Deer Stones | 54 |
| by Sergei S. Miniaev | Download |
| The article argues that images on deer stones may be representations of items of warrior armor such as arm guards which had decorative imagery on them. Among the evidence for this is the bronze artefacts excavated in a burial at Xiaoheishigou in Inner Mongolia, one of the rare instances of finding armor in an undisturbed context. The article questions whether the burial should be connected with the still insufficiently well defined “Upper Xiajiadian” culture. |
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| Tamgas, a Code of the Steppes. Identity Marks and Writing among the Andient Iranians | 60 |
| by Niccolò Manassero | Download |
| The article clarifies misunderstandings about the markings sometimes considered to be monograms found on coins and other sources from the ancient Middle East, arguing that they should be considered as tamgas, identity marks widely used across the Eurasian steppes. These marks identify in the first instance clan affiliation. |
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 | Some Observations on Depictions of Early Turkic Costume | 76 |
| by Sergey A. Yatsenko | Download |
| Drawing on a broad range of imagery on coins, petroglyphs, sculptures, paintings and other artefacts, the author describes the various elements of costume that seem to have been common amongst the early Turkic peoples across Inner Asia. |
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| The Relations between China and India and the Opening of the Southern Silk Road during the Han Dynasty | 82 |
| by Yang Juping | Download |
| A close examination of evidence in several of the important early Chinese annals (and also some numismatic evidence) sheds new light on the earliest relations between China and India. One of the challenges addressed in the article is the identification of the places mentioned in the texts. |
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 | An Egyptian Contribution to a Late 5th-Century Chinese Coffin | 93 + Plate V |
| by Rosalind E. Bradford | Download |
| A painted coffin cover excavated at Guyuan and dating from the Northern Wei period depicts a range of fascinating imagery which the author has examined in full in a separate monograph. Here the focus is on one of the images, human-headed birds, whose origins she traces across Asia and ultimately to ancient Egypt. In Buddhist contexts, they became auspicious symbols. |
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| A Study on the Auspicious Animal Mltifs on Han Textiles in Ancient China | 100 |
| by Zhang Wen, Xu Chunzhong, Wu Zhuo, and Qiu Yiping | Download |
| The often complex imagery on early Chinese silks has not fully been traced to its origins. The article focuses on one set of images, winged lions (or related composite beasts), which were particularly popular on Chinese silks dating from the Han period down through the Northern Dynasties (206 BCE-589 CE). The authors argue that the motif may derive from western Asia and in particular from Achaemenid Persia and was transmitted via the nomads of the northern steppes. Its appeal may be related to shamanistic beliefs. |
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 | On the Issue of Silk Weaving in Genoese Kaffa and Textiles from the Belorechenskaia Kurgans | 113 + Plate VI |
| by Zvezdana Dode | Download |
| Silk excavated in burials at Belorechenskaia in the northern Caucasus offers an interesting case study of how careful technical analysis is needed to establish accurately its provenance. In the given example, it seems clear that attribution of the manufacture of this 15th century silk to the Crimea is unwarranted; instead, it seems most likely it was made in Venice. |
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| The Trade in Horses between Khorasan and India in the 13th-17th Centuries | 123 |
| by Ali Bahrani Pour | Download |
| While various aspects of the Asian horse trade have attracted scholarly attention, one of the as yet inadequately explored chapters concerns the overland trade between Khorasan and India in the period between the 13th and 17th centuries. The focus here is on the activity of the Kart rulers of Herat in promoting and controlling this trade. The article includes a discussion of the various breeds of horses and their value, the nature of the demand in India for them, and the roles of the nomadic pastoralists along the route. |
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 | Samarqand Refashioned: A Traveller's Impressions, August 2013 | 139 + Plate VII |
| by Elena Paskaleva (with a preface by Daniel C. Waugh) | Download |
| A recent visit to Samarqand reveals disturbing evidence about the ways in which the “restorations” and re-building of historic parts of the city and its monuments are altering the architectural heritage that a UNESCO World Heritage designation is intended to protect. |
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| Featured Museum:The Renovated Central Asia Exhibit in the State Hermitage Museum | 154 + Plates VIII-XVI |
| by Julia Elikhina | Download |
| After a hiatus of six years, the Central Asia exhibitions of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg are once again open, in renovated galleries. The overview of the collections here serves as an introduction to one of the most important such collections in any museum, the material including art and artefacts from Mongolia, Tibet, and areas in Gansu and Xinjiang. Among the significant collections are the materials from the Xiongnu graves at Noyon uul, the Buddhist remains at Khara-Khoto, Khotan and the various Buddhist monasteries in the areas of Turfan and Kucha. |
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| Featured Museum, II:Distance Learning and the Museum: the Arts of the Islamic world at the Metropolitan Museum in New York | 172 |
| by Daniel C. Waugh | Download |
| The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York re-opened its Islamic galleries to great acclaim in 2011. This review article explores how one may learn about the collection from the published catalogue of its masterpieces and from the museum’s website. An appendix brings together images of a set of lustreware tiles originally made for an important Ilkhanid shrine in Natanz, Iran. |
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| Review Essays |
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| Rethinking Central Asia: A Review of The Age of the Steppe Warriors, | 181 |
| by Alicia Ventresca Miller | Download |
| A review of Christoph Baumer, The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors (2012) |
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| In Search of the Golden King, | 185 |
| by Carol G. Thomas | Download |
| A review of Frank Holt, Lost World of the Golden King: In Search of Ancient Afghanistan (2012) |
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| A Road Less Taken? | 188 |
| by Daniel C. Waugh | Download |
| A review of E. V. Rtveladze, Velikii indiiskii put’ / The Great Indian Road (2012) |
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| Marshak on Sogdian Ceramics, | 192 |
| by Bertille Lyonnet | Download |
| A review of Boris Marshak, Keramika Sogda V-VII vekov kak istoriko-kul’turnyi pamiatnik [Sogdian pottery of the 5th-7th centuries as a historical and cultural phenomenon] (2012) |
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| Expanding Geographic Horizons along the Maritime Silk Road, | 200 |
| by Daniel C. Waugh | Download |
| A review of Hyunhee Park, Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-modern Asia (2012) |
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| New Research on Sacred Places in Central Asia, | 215 |
| by Jennifer Webster | Download |
| A review of Muslim Saints and Mausoleums in Central Asia and Xinjiang (2013) |
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| A Treasury of Old Images for the Study of Inner Asia, | 217 |
| by Daniel C. Waugh | Download |
| A review of V. A. Prishchepova, Illustrativnye kollektsii po narodam Tsentral’noi Azii...v sobraniiakh Kunstkamery[Illustrated collections on the peoples of Inner Asia...in the Kunstkamera] (2011) |
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