Archaeology of Early Buddhism

How do archaeologists explore the various dimensions of religion? Lars Fogelin uses archaeological work at Thotlakonda in Southern India as his lens in a broader examination of Buddhist monastic life. He discovers the tension between the desired isolation of the monastery and the mutual engagement with neighbors in the Early Historic Period. He also sketches how religious architectural design and use of landscape helped to shaped these relationships. Drawing on historical accounts, religious documents, and inscriptions, as well as results of his systematic archaeological survey, Fogelin is able to shed new light on the ritual and material workings of Early Buddhism in this region, and shows how archaeology can contribute to our understanding of religious practice.

Lars Fogelin is a visiting assistant professor at Albion College. He received a B.A. in anthropology from Ithaca College, an M.A. from the Un iversity of Hawaii at Manoa, and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Michigan in 2003. He has published in Asian Perspectives ('Ritual and Presentation in Early Buddhist Architecture,' 42:1) as well as in edited volumes in the U.S., Europe and India. He is co-editor, with Carla M. Sinopoli, of Imperial Imaginings: The Dean C. Worcester Photographic Collection of the Phillippines, 1890-1913, a cd-rom addressing American colonialism. Prior to his first trip to India in 1994, he conducted research in Israel, the Mediterranean, Peru, and the Dutch West Indies. Beginning in September 2000 he directed the Northeast Andhra Monastic Survey near the modern city of Visakhapatnam, India. In addition to South Asian archaeology, he has a strong interest in the archaeology of religion, architecture, landscape, and ceramic analysis.