Amri is an ancient settlement in modern-day

Sindh, Pakistan Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind or Scinde) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest provin ...

, that goes back to 3600 BCE. The site is located south of

Mohenjo Daro Mohenjo-daro (; , ; ) is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major cities, contemporaneo ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

- Dadu Road more than 100 kilometres north of

Hyderabad, Pakistan Hyderabad, also known as Neroonkot, is the capital and largest city of the Hyderabad Division in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Sindh by population, second-largest city in Sindh, after Karachi, and the List of citie ...

Cultural context

Amri is a

type site In archaeology, a type site (American English) or type-site (British English) is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and H ...

for Amri culture which developed in Sindh during 4th millennium BCE.

Kot Diji Kot Diji (; ) is an ancient site which was part of the Indus Valley Civilization, estimated to have been occupied around 3300 BCE. Located about south of Khairpur in the modern-day province of Sindh, India, it is on the east bank of the Indus R ...

and Amri are close to each other in Sindh, they earlier developed indigenous culture which had common elements, later they came in contact with Harappan culture and fully developed into mature phase of

Indus Valley Civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the Northwestern South Asia, northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 Common Era, BCE to 1300 BCE, and in i ...

.Charles Keith Maisels
''Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, The Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China.''
Routledge, 2003 Sigfried J. de Laet, Ahmad Hasan Dani, eds
''History of Humanity: From the third millennium to the seventh century B.C.''
UNESCO, 1996 p.674Tejas Garge (2010)
Sothi-Siswal Ceramic Assemblage: A Reappraisal.
Ancient Asia. 2, pp.15–40.

Archaeology

Prehistoric Amri-Nal culture is attributed to the dual

typesite In archaeology, a type site (American English) or type-site (British English) is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and Hall ...

s of Amri and Nal. This site had multi-level structures, although it was never a big city.

Pre-Harappan stage

Situated near the foothills of

Kirthar Mountains The Kirthar Mountains (; ) are a mountain range that mark the boundary between the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and Sindh, also separating the Iranian plateau from the Indian subcontinent. It comprises much of the Kirthar National Park. The ...

, this was an important earlier urban center in Lower Sindh. Amri is close to

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

where development of earlier farming communities from 6000 BC to 4000 BC ultimately led to urbanization. The ancient mounds of 8 hectares on the west bank of

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayas, Himalayan river of South Asia, South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northw ...

have been extensively excavated. The earliest phase was a fortified town that flourished from 3600 to

3300 BC The 33rd century BC was a century that lasted from the year 3300 BC to 3201 BC. It is impossible to precisely date events that happened around the time of this century and all dates mentioned here are estimates mostly based on geological and anthr ...

, and belonged to the

Pre-Harappan Several periodisations are employed for the periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation. While the Indus Valley Civilisation was divided into Early, Mature, and Late Harappan by archaeologists like Mortimer Wheeler, newer periodisations incl ...

stage of the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...

. Amri is dated after

Rehman Dheri Rehman Dheri or sometime Rahman Dheri () is a Pre-Harappan Archaeological Site situated near Dera Ismail Khan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. This is one of the oldest urbanised centres found to date in South Asia. Dated (3300 - ...

. The pottery discovered here had its own characteristics and is known as ''Amri Ware''. Sohr Damb (Nal) is a related site in Balochistan to the west of Amri. Their pottery is sometimes collectively described as 'Amri-Nal ware'. Like other Pre Harappa towns, no writings were found at this site. Evidence indicates widespread fire at the town around 2500 BCE.

Later phases

* In period II (ca. 2750-2450 BC), more and more elements of Indus Valley culture appear. * Period III (ca. 2450-1900 BC) belongs almost entirely to Indus Valley culture. * Period IV (ca. 1900-1300 BC) is marked by the mingling of cultural traditions. Elements of the Jhukar culture appear, and co-exist with the last phase of the Indus Valley culture. Later, the elements of Jhangar culture appear. * Period V is Muslim and dated much later. Based on the evidence from this site, Indus culture was probably not developed directly from Amri culture. Also, at least at this location, rather than suddenly being replaced by the Amri culture, there was a co-existence of both cultures.

References

External links