Most come from Buddhist contexts, but are decorative small-scale architectural sculpture, and many show purely secular scenes, in a style heavily influenced by Hellenistic art.

Some of the reliefs depict people in Greek dress (the short tunic, or chiton, and the enveloping himation for women, and the short tunic, or exomis, for men) and poses, "often regaling each other with cups, and sometimes pouring from wineskins into cups or mixing bowls in the Greek manner" (Boardman).

They are depicted in ample tunics with trousers (the anaxyride), with a pointed hood and heavy straight sword as a weapon.

All of these friezes, being contemporary with each other, hint at an intermixing of Indo-Scythians (holding military power), Indo-Greeks (confined, under Indo-Scythian rule, to civilian life, and usually shown revelling with drinking cups) and Buddhists (possibly most directly involved in religious matters, and shown with the reverencial lotus).

In addition to the Greek costumes depicted in them, the artwork of the reliefs is Hellenistic in style and content; they are considered some of the earliest examples of Greco-Buddhist art.