When the Buddha died, says tradition, his fellow monks burned his body and divided up his ashes, sending parts of the great philosopher’s remains to eight monasteries in the Ganges plain of India. Buddhist monasteries were, according to historic documents of the period, places where monks could live the contemplative life, eschewing the material world and following in the steps of Siddhartha.Lars Fogelin's new book, called the Archaeology of Early Buddhism and published in 2006 by Altamira Press, describes the archaeological investigations of the Thotlakonda monastery, an Early Buddhist monastery located on the eastern coast of India in Andhra Pradesh overlooking the Bay of Bengal. Thotlakonda was occupied by about 65 monks, more or less, between about 300 BC and 200 AD. Fogelin's book combines the results of the archaeological investigations at the monastery conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Department of Archaeology and Museums and his own survey of the region, to reveal a complex picture of how the monks adapted their surroundings to practice Buddhism, and adapted Buddhism to suit their surroundings.
Fogelin’s writing is very clear, even when approaching the sticky bits of archaeological theory like (shudder) Marxism and phenomenology, and the Archaeology of Early Buddhism is an excellent introduction both to the archaeology of Buddhism and practice theory as it is exercised in archaeology today.
Comments