A Comparison of Images of Kushans from
Coins and Sculpture

The images are from 'The Sculpture of Khalchayan' by G. A. Pugachenkova (1970).

Between 1959 and 1963, archeological investigations of a small Kushan palace or reception hall (1st century AD) took place in Khalchayan in the ancient district of Chaghaniyan, near the modern town of Denau in Uzbekistan (about 200 kilometers southeast of Samarkand). The interior was covered with wall paintings and painted clay wall sculptures, most with heads in the round, torsos in high relief and legs in bas relief. A re-creation shows three panels, one with mounted archers and a cataphract, one with a royal couple flanked by other couples both standing and seated, and one with a seated man flanked by warriors and a goddess in a chariot. The main personages are all males belonging to what has to be one ethnic group or clan; all bear a marked artificial deformation of the skull, particularly visible in side view.

Tetradrachm of Kujula Kadphises/'Heraios' showing him as a middle-aged man.

A line drawing comparing a Kushan bust to the image on a Tetradrachm of Kujula.

A Kushan warrior holding a suit of armor.

Detail of the head showing the artificial skull deformation.

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