本文对20世纪南北朝(420～589年)佛教考古研究作了系统地述评。南北朝的石窟寺是20世纪中国佛教考古研究的重点所在,主要针对各重要石窟寺群的分期与年代,以及它们在中国佛教艺术传播中的地位。通过这些研究,我们可以看出山西大同的云冈石窟在北魏朝(386～534年)石窟开凿史中的重要历史地位,是因为它的皇家赞助的重要性。北魏迁都洛阳之后开凿的龙门石窟则在北魏晚期(493～534年)石窟发展中地位重要。而敦煌莫高窟与天水麦积山早期石窟的开凿也与北魏云冈、龙门石窟的发展密不可分。同时,在南京与成都一带发现的南朝石窟与石造像,则为北魏新型汉风造像的发展提供了参考,而历史背景则是北魏的汉化改革。北魏洛阳永宁寺塔的考古发现,为我们解释北魏中心柱窟的宗教功能提供了重要依据。20世纪晚期对东魏(534～549年)、西魏(535～556年)、北齐(550～577年)、北周(557～581年)新的石窟与造像资料的报导,使我们对北朝晚期的佛教艺术面貌有了更为清晰的认识,也使我们对这个时期的佛教艺术对前朝的继承、对印度与中亚新传入样式的接受有了全新的了解。20世纪晚期的另一项重要成果是对南北朝单体造像的研究,包括对单体金铜、石造像与造像碑的研究,在分期、区系类型、题材考证、图像学方面都取得了显著成就。 This article systematically reviews the Buddhist archeology in the 20th and the Southern Dynasties (420-589). Northern and Southern Dynasties Cave Temple is the focus of Chinese Buddhist archeology in the 20th century, mainly for the major stages of the cave groups and their age, and their status in the spread of Buddhist art in China. Through these studies, we can see that the important historic position of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi Province during the excavation of the Grottoes in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386 ~ 534) was due to the importance of its royal sponsorship. After the Northern Wei Dynasty moved to Luoyang, the Longmen Grottoes were important in the development of the Grottoes during the late Northern Wei Dynasty (493 ~ 534). The development of early Moganshan Grottoes at Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and Tianshui Maijishan is also inseparable from the development of Yungang and Longmen Grottoes in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Meanwhile, the Southern Dynasties grottoes and stone statues found in Nanjing and Chengdu provide references for the development of the new Han statues in the Northern Wei Dynasty, while the historical background is the sinicization of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The archaeological discoveries of the Yongning temple tower in the Northern Wei Dynasty provide an important basis for us to explain the religious functions of the central pillar cave in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The late 20th century reports of new caves and statues from the Eastern Wei Dynasty (534-549), Western Wei (535-556), Northern Qi (550-577) and Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581) A clearer understanding of the art of Buddhism has enabled us to gain a new understanding of the Buddhist art’s inheritance of the ancestors and the acceptance of new incoming styles in India and Central Asia. Another important achievement of the late twentieth century was the study of the single statues of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, including the study of monolithic bronze statues, stone statues and statues of steles, and achieved remarkable results in staging, typology, subject matter research, and imageology achievement.