The present volume contains over sixty contributions reflecting the wide range of topics discussed at the 26th International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art, held in September 2024 in Leipzig. The papers included here are concise versions of those presented at the conference. It has always been a primary aim of the EASAA conferences to provide space for the presentation of results from current projects and fieldwork without thematic limitation; accordingly, a number of contributions focus on recent research in prehistoric and historic archaeology, as well as art and architectural history. The volume also reflects the ongoing expansion of scholarly perspectives within the field. Several contributions examine connections with neighbouring geographical regions such as Central and Southeast Asia, engage with related academic disciplines including epigraphy, ethno-archaeology, and heritage studies, and demonstrate how technological developments in recent years have become essential tools for conducting research and making its results accessible to a wider audience.

The volume also reproduces the two keynote lectures in full. These contributions address more fundamental questions, calling for a critical reassessment of seemingly established scholarly positions and, particularly in light of current debates on the handling of unprovenanced archaeological and art-historical material in academic research, emphasising the continuing necessity of careful reflection on one’s own professional practices.

Marion Frenger has taught South and Southeast Asian art at the universities of Bonn and Berlin. Her research interests include early sculpture and temple archi-tecture in South and Southeast Asia, solar deities and their cult in premodern South and Central Asia, as well as modern and contemporary Indian art. Between 2010 and 2018, she worked for museums and private collections of Asian art in Switzerland and Spain, and since 2016 she has been associated with the project Buddhist Murals of Kucha on the Northern Silk Road at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig. More recently, she was a member of the curatorial team of the exhibition Being Jain (Jain sein) at the Museum Rietberg, Zurich (2022–23), and co-authored the companion volume.

 Monika Zin taught Indian and Central Asian art history at the universities of Munich, Berlin, and Leipzig. Her publications include numerous essays, primarily focused on the identification of narrative representations, as well as several monographs, including Ajanta – Handbuch der Malereien: Devotional and Ornamental Paintings (2003), Mitleid und Wunderkraft, Schwierige Bekehrungen und ihre Ikono-graphie im indischen Buddhismus (2006), The Kanaganahalli Stūpa (2018), Re-presentations of the Parinirvāṇa Story Cycle in Kucha (2020), and Gods, Deities, and Demons in the Paintings of Kucha (2023). Since April 2016, Prof. Zin has led the research team of the project Buddhist Murals of Kucha on the Northern Silk Road at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities and has served as co-editor (together with Eli Franco) of Leipzig Kucha Studies.