This volume traces the history of a set of Tibetan tsakalis, consisting of sixty-five initiation cards that survived the mass destruction of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The set was eventually brought to Europe, the details of its origins having been lost. These tsakalis belong to the material culture of the Zhangzhung Nyengyü tradition, part of the Dzogchen practice common to both the Bon religion as well as certain schools of Buddhism. Used as a tool for transmitting knowledge from master to student, the cards document the transmission lineage of the Zhangzhung Nyengyü teachings.

The contributions to this volume each study the same object, but with different methodological approaches and tools to reveal its many facets. The authors are specialists in a range of fields including anthropology, art history, codicology, heritage science, artificial intelligence and archaeometry. This holistic research approach places the material object front and centre, exploring the creative process that transformed it from concept to artefact, then connecting the object with the rituals and people who used it to reconstruct a full account of its production, use and preservation.