Abstract
This paper deals with a newly found terracotta head from Sherabad district, southern Uzbekistan. Its probable origin in eastern Turkestan region of Khotan as well as its iconographic peculiarities and their interpretation is discussed.
While analysing a newly found clay head from Babatepa, southern Uzbekistan, we tried to interpret it as an unusual depiction of Buddha, executed in the typical Khotanese style. This assumption is based mainly on the prolonged earlobes as one of the Buddha's lakshanas and also on the hairstyle with the typical top-knot of Buddha.
Since we have no direct analogies for such an interpretation, we cannot exclude other readings of the given image, including the possibility that it is a depiction of a donor or a Buddhist layman. Anyway, the Buddhist context of the item is highly likely taking into account the dominant religion in Khotan as well as in northern Bactria / Tokharistan in the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages.
Dating of the figurine remains uncertain with two almost equally probable options: the 2nd-3rd c. AD and the 5th-8th c.
AD,. The Early Medieval date (5th-8th c.) seems the more probable.