Mind the gap. Local persistence and Iranian legacy in Gandhara: new evidence from Swat

This paper attempts at proposing a critical review of the issues related to the visibility of the Achaemenid horizon in northern Gandhara, as seen through the archaeological evidence. Specifically, the present discussion will examine the evidence provided by 2016 excavation seasons carried out at Barikot (Swat) by the ISMEO Italian ArchaeologicalMission in Pakistan. The identification below the Indo-Greek stratigraphy of occupation phases featured by “tulip bowls” leads to revise the chronology of the protohistoric sequence of Ghaligai and the idea of a cultural isolation of northern Gandhara during the mid-1st millennium BCE.