Drawn and Written in Stone explores the religious history of the highest part of the Tibetan Plateau through its rock art and inscriptions. It is focused on facsimiles of ritual and ceremonial monuments carved and painted on stone surfaces and rock inscriptions in the Tibetan language, vital archaeological and historical materials for appraising the development of religion in Tibet, ca. 100 BCE to 1400 CE. By probing the complexion of figures and letters in stone, this work considers how early cult traditions contributed to the establishment of Tibetan Buddhism and a rival faith known as Yungdrung Bon. Outside of the Indian cultural context, relatively little has been written about the historical antecedents of these popular Tibetan religions for a want of sources. This monograph helps remedy this large gap in Tibetan studies by drawing upon the author's surveys of rock art and rock inscriptions conducted in upmost Tibet between 1995 and 2013.
Drawn and Written in Stone: An inventory of stepped structures and inscriptions on rock surfaces in Upper Tibet (ca. 100 BCE to 1400 CE), John Vincent Bellezza, British Archaeological Reports Oxford Ltd, Paperback, 336 pp, $165.00

John Vincent Bellezza PhD is an archaeologist and cultural historian specialising in the pre-Buddhist heritage of Tibet. Author of twelve books and numerous articles, Bellezza has over many years comprehensively charted archaic monuments and rock art in Upper Tibet and has worked extensively on Old Tibetan mytho-ritual texts.

	List of Figures	ix
	List of Tables	xxiii
	General Introduction	1
	Precis	1
	Methods and perspectives	3
	Part I. A Comprehensive Survey of Stepped Structures in the Rock Art of Upper Tibet	9
1.	Introduction to Stepped Structures in the Rock Art of Upper Tibet	11
	Overview	11
	Chronology	12
	Locations of Upper Tibetan rock art sites with stepped structures	14
2.	The Origins of Stepped Structures in Upper Tibet	15
	Elementary stepped structures in the literary and ethnographic records	15
	Archaic built stepped structures in the archaeological record	17
	Archaic stepped structures in the artefactual record	24
	Ancient chorten	27
3.	Typological Illustrations and Data on Stepped Structures in Upper Tibetan Rock Art	33
	Categorisation	33
	Key to the typological inventory	34
	Group I: elementary two-tiered stepped structures (three specimens)	35
	Group III: elementary three-tiered stepped structures with a bulbous top (11 specimens)	36
	Group IV: elementary multi-tiered stepped structures (23 specimens)	37
	Group V: elementary segmented stepped structures (five specimens)	38
	Group VI: elementary stepped structures with a spatulate or inverted crescent-shaped finial (four specimens)	38
	Group VII: elementary stepped structures with a multifoliate finial (two specimens)	39
	Group VIII: elementary stepped structures with a tricuspidate finial (four specimens)	39
	Group IX: idiosyncratic elementary stepped structures (12 specimens)	40
	Group X: well-developed stepped structures with a bulbous upper stage (22 specimens)	41
	Group XI: twin stepped structures sharing a common base (three specimens)	42
	Group XII: simple-style chorten (seven specimens)	43
	Group XIII: chorten with forked finials (20 specimens)	44
	Group XIV: chorten with a cross-piece spire (15 specimens)	45
	Group XV: giant pictographic stepped structures (five specimens)	47
	Group XVI: flat-topped chorten (eighteen specimens)	47
	Group XVII: chorten with a simple spire (12 specimens)	48
	Group XVIII: intricate non-Buddhist chorten (23 specimens)	49
	Group XIX: intricate chorten of Brag-gyam (25 specimens)	51
	Group XX: Buddhist chorten (seven specimens)	53
4.	Cross-cultural Influences Acting upon Stepped Structures in Upper Tibetan Rock Art	55
	Orientation	55
	Spiti	56
	Ladakh	57
	Northern Pakistan	63
	Mechanisms of interaction	70
5.	Photographic Catalogue of Stepped Structures in Upper Tibetan Rock Art	73
	Group I: elementary two-tiered stepped structures	73
	Group II: elementary three-tiered stepped structures	73
	Group III: elementary three-tiered stepped structures with a bulbous top	75
	Group IV: elementary multi-tiered stepped structures	76
	Group V: elementary segmented stepped structures	79
	Group VI: elementary stepped structures with a spatulate or crescent-shaped finial	79
	Group VII: elementary stepped structures with a multifoliate finial	79
	Group VIII: elementary stepped structures with a tricuspidate finial	80
	Group IX: idiosyncratic elementary stepped structures	81
	Group X: stepped structures with a bulbous upper stage	83
	Group XI: twin stepped structures sharing a common base	85
	Group XII: simple-style chorten	86
	Group XIII: chorten with a forked finial	87
	Group XIV: chorten with a cross-piece spire	89
	Group XV: giant pictographic stepped structures	91
	Group XVI: flat-topped chorten	92
	Group XVII: chorten with a simple spire	94
	Group XVIII: intricate non-Buddhist chorten	95
	Group XIX: intricate chorten of Brag-gyam	98
	Group XX: Buddhist chorten	102
	Part II. A Comprehensive Survey of Early Rock Inscriptions in Upper Tibet	103
6.	Introduction to Upper Tibetan Rock Inscriptions	105
	Overview	105
	Locations of sites with rock inscriptions	108
7.	The Archaeology and History of Upper Tibetan Rock Inscriptions	109
	The archaeological context	109
	The variable development of epigraphy on the Western Tibetan Plateau	110
	Rock inscriptions of the Vestigial period	116
8.	Palaeographic Analysis of Upper Tibetan Rock Inscriptions	119
	Palaeographic methods of dating	119
	Palaeographic typology	120
	-- Early Historic period	120
	-- Vestigial period	127
	Physical qualities of rock inscriptions	136
9.	A Statistical and Religious Profile of Rock Inscriptions in Upper Tibet	139
	Statistical analysis	139
	Doctrinal significance of mantras	140
	Buddhist and non-Buddhist contestation	142
10.	Photographic Catalogue and Readings of Upper Tibetan Rock Inscriptions	145
	Introduction	145
	-- Note on methodological exactitude	146
	Bkra-shis-do, Gnam-mtsho	146
	-- Bkra-shis do-chen, Gnam-mtsho	147
	Bkra-shis- do-chung, Gnam-mtsho	165
	Other sites at Gnam-mtsho	211
	-- Rta-mchog ngang-pa do, Gnam-mtsho	211
	-- Khyi-rgan gag-pa do, Gnam-mtsho	217
	-- Lug do, Gnam-mtsho	218
	-- Ra-ma do, Gnam-mtsho	221
	-- Stong-shong phug, Gnam-mtsho	223
	-- Se-mo do, Gnam-mtsho	228
	-- Rigs-lnga do, Gnam-mtsho	230
	-- Lce do, Gnam-mtsho	233
	Other sites on the Byang-thang	237
	-- Lha-ris sgrub-phug, Smad-pa	238
	-- Slob-dpon phug, Gzhung-smad	238
	-- Chos-lung O-rgyan bsam-gtan-gling, Gzims-phug	239
	-- Rta-ra dmar-lding, Gzims-phug	239
	-- Chu-ro, Gzhung-smad	241
	-- Dar-lung phug-pa, Gzhung-smad	243
	-- Bshag-bsangs, Gro-ba	244
	-- Am-nag, Dang-ra g.yu-mtsho	250
	-- Do dril-bu, Bkra-ri gnam-mtsho	251
	-- Gu-ru rin-po-che phug, Bkra-ri gnam-mtsho	251
	-- Lha-khang dmar-chags, Da-rog mtsho	251
	-- Rdzong pi-phi, Bar-yangs	260
	-- Ri-rgyal, Sger-rtse	260
	Far Western Tibet	261
	-- Rdu-ru-can, Gu-ge	261
	-- Gser-sgam, Gu-ge	264
	-- Brag-gyam, Sgar	265
	-- Gong-ra, Ra-bang	266
	-- Skabs-ren spungs-ri, Ra-bang	267
	-- Chu-mkhar gyam sgrub-phug, Rdo-dmar	267
	-- Mchod-rten sbug sna-kha, Ra-bang	268
	-- Brag-gdong, Ra-bang	268
	-- Glog-phug mkhar, Ra-bang	269
	-- Rwa-'brog 'phrang, Ra-bang	270
	-- Sna-kha sogs, Khul-pa	274
	-- Nag-skyom, Khul-pa	277
	-- Ri-mo gdong, Sde-rog	277
	-- She-rang sna-kha shar-ma, Sde-rog	279
	-- Ru-thog rdzong	279
	-- Rno-ba g.yang-rdo, O-byang	280
	Supplemental	280
	-- Thang-lha'i rten-khang	280
	-- Near Gu-ru sgrub-phug	281
	-- Sri-gcod 'bum-pa, Bkra-shis do-chung	281
	-- Khyi-rgan gag-pa do	282
	-- Se-mo do, Gnam-mtsho	283
	-- Chos-lung O-rgyan bsam-gtan-gling, Gzims-phug	283
	-- Skyid-sgrom dgon-pa, Gzhung-smad	284
	-- Stong-shong brag-khung	284
	-- Gnas kun-bzang	285
	-- G.yung-drung lha-rtse, Dang-ra g.yu-mtsho	285
	-- Dar-chung, Dang-ra g.yu-mtsho	286
	-- Do dril-bu, Da-rog mtsho	286
	-- Tham-ka-can, Rtsa-mda'	287
	-- Rwa-'brog 'phrang, Ra-bang	288
	-- Brag-gyam, Sgar	289
	Bibliography	291
	Index	307