Recommended readings:
Fogelin, Lars: Archaeology of Early Buddhism, 2006. Lanham etc.: Altamira Press. p. 1-10. Fulltext.
Norman, K. R.: "Buddhism and Aśoka", in: K. R. Norman: A Philological Approach to Buddhism. The Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai Lectures 1994, 2006. Lancaster: The Pali Text Society. p. 147-169. Fulltext.
Schlingloff, Dieter: "König Asoka und das Wesen des ältesten Buddhismus", Saeculum 36, 1985. p. 326-333. Fulltext.
Schmithausen, Lambert: "An Attempt to Estimate the Distance in Time between Aśoka and the Buddha in Terms of Doctrinal History", The Dating of the Historical Buddha. Die Datierung des historischen Buddha, ed. Heinz Bechert, Bd. 2, 1192. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 110-147. Fulltext.
Skilling, Peter: "Redaction, recitation, and writing: transmission of the Buddha's teaching in India in the early period", Buddhist Manuscript Cultures. Knowledge, ritual and art, ed. Stephen C. Berkwitz, Juliane Schober, and Claudia Brown, 2009. London/New York: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism, 52. p. 53-75. Fulltext.
Skilling, Peter: Scriptural Authenticity and the Śrāvaka Schools: An Essay towards an Indian Perspective, 2010. Eastern Buddhist 41.2. p. 1-47. Fulltext.
Skilling, Peter: Theravāda in History, 2009. Pacific World 11. p. 61-93. Fulltext.
Optional readings:
Falk, Harry: Aśokan Sites and Artefacts. A Source-book with Bibliography, 2006. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern. (MIAKP, 18).