thumb|200px| Stein in Central Asia (February 1929)

Sir '''Marc Aurel Stein''' () (26 November 1862 &ndash; 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian archaeologist. He was also a professor at various Indian universities. Stein was inspired by Sven Hedin's 1898 work, ''Through Asia''.

== Early life ==

Stein was born in British citizen and made his famous expeditions under British sponsorship.

== Expeditions ==

Stein made four major expeditions to Central Asia - in 1900, 1906-8, 1913-16 and 1930.<ref>''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. 15th Edition. (1977). Vol. IX, p. 547.</ref>

thumb|250px|Photograph of Aurel Stein, with his dog and research team, in the [[Tarim Basin.]]

The Uyghur, Marin and other Balochistan. 

Stein's greatest discovery was made at the Mogao Caves also known as "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas", near Dunhuang.  It was there that he discovered the Diamond Sutra, the world's oldest dated printed text, along with 40,000 other scrolls (all removed by gradually winning the confidence of the Taoist <ref>Deuel, Leo. 1970. ''Testaments of Time'', p. 459. Baltimore, Pelican Books. Orig. publ. Knopf, NY, 1965.</ref> caretaker).  In 1901 Stein was responsible for exposing forgeries of Islam Akhun. During his expedition of 1906&ndash;1908  while surveying in the Kunlun mountain range in western China, Stein suffered frostbite and lost several toes on his right foot.

When he was resting from his extended journeys into Central Asia, he spent most of his time living in a tent in the spectacularly beautiful alpine meadow called Gulmarg (or 'Meadow of Roses'). Except for his latest dog (which was always called "Dash"), he lived alone here.  He died and is buried in Kabul.

Sir '''Marc Aurel Stein''' (* 26. November 1862 in Budapest; † 26. Oktober 1943 in Kabul) war ein Entdecker und Archäologe.

thumb|200px|Marc Aurel Stein

Er wurde in Ungarn und Deutschland ausgebildet. 1884 ging er nach Großbritannien, wo er in Britischen Museum arbeitete. Von 1900 bis 1916 (1900, 1907, 1915) leitete er drei Expeditionen nach Innerasien, die vor allem zur Erforschung der Kulturen an der Seidenstraße dienten und bei denen er den Begriff Serindien prägte. Bei der zweiten Expedition entdeckte er in den Mogao-Grotten bei Dunhuang das Diamant-Sutra.
==Werke==
*Aurel Stein, Zoroastriam Deities on Indo-Scythian Coins (London 1887).

== Digitalisierte Werke ==
* [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/creator/marc_aurel_stein.html.en Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books] Die Hauptwerke sind über Links erreichbar.

== Literatur ==
*Susan Whitfield: ''Aurel Stein on the Silk Road'', London 2004 ISBN 0714124168
*Jeannette Mirsky: ''Sir Aurel Stein: Archaeological Explorer'', Chicago 1998 ISBN 0-226-53177-5