Kulli culture

Last updated

Kulli
Kasota Qila Mound II.jpg
Plan of the Kulli settlement Kasota Qila Mound II
Geographical range Balochistan (Gedrosia) in Pakistan
Datesca. 2500 - 2000 BCE
Major sites Nindowari

The Kulli culture was a prehistoric culture in southern Balochistan (Gedrosia) in Pakistan ca. 2500 - 2000 BCE. The pottery and other artifacts are similar to those of the Indus Valley civilization and it is not clear whether the Kulli culture is a local variation of the Indus Valley civilization or an own culture complex. The culture is named after an archaeological site discovered by Sir Aurel Stein.

Contents

Settlements

More than 100 settlement sites are known but very few are excavated. Some of them have the size of small towns and are similar to those of the Indus Valley civilization. The houses are built of local stone along streets. The latter are sometimes paved. There are stairs on the street for getting access to higher levels. The settlements are often placed at important strategic positions on small hills overlooking the surrounding country side. Most settlements are close to dams. Murda Sang is one town, about 35 ha big. The latest occupation level belongs to the Kulli culture. [1]

Nindowari is an important settlement of the Kulli culture.

Kulli culture ware is also found in the latest stratum of Sohr Damb (Nal), so, in the past, Sohr Damb was understood as belonging to the Kulli culture. But more recently, this site is rather seen as mostly belonging to its own, earlier, pottery tradition (also known as 'Nal pottery'), linked more to Baluchistan. [2]

Economy

Agriculture was the economical base of this people. Several Kulli culture sites dams were found, providing evidence for a highly developed water management system.

Material culture

Kulli culture: Based on the pottery found here, it is classified as a separate archaeological culture / subculture. [3]

Rhyton (drinking vessel), zebu shaped. Painted terracotta. Pakistan, Nindowari site, 2300-2000 BCE, Kulli culture, the time of the Indus civilization. Guimet Museum, Paris. Rhyton, zebu. Kulli culture. Musee Guimet .jpg
Rhyton (drinking vessel), zebu shaped. Painted terracotta. Pakistan, Nindowari site, 2300-2000 BCE, Kulli culture, the time of the Indus civilization. Guimet Museum, Paris.

The pottery of the Kulli culture shows different forms. There are globular beakers, small flasks, tall vases, cups and dishes. Large storage jars are sometimes painted. The only types in common with the Indus Valley Civilization are dishes on a stand and perforated vessels. Kulli culture pottery bears sometimes a painted decoration. The paintings are arranged in horizontal bands over the vessels. [4] There are geometrical patterns and sometimes bands with figures of animals with plants. A popular motif is the zebu-bull. The figures appear highly stylised. The paint used is always black on the red surface of the vessels. This is similar to the decorated pottery of the Indus Valley Civilization, although the red of the Kulli pottery appears brighter. [5] Other typical Kulli culture objects are rough clay figurines of zebu bulls and women. The women figurines are again highly stylized but show elaborate hair styles and many personal ornaments, such as necklaces and bangles. The bull figures are often painted. There were also found clay carts for the bulls. [6] At Mehi were found several decorated chlorite vessels, imported from Tepe Yahya and attesting trade contacts with the Eastern Iran. [7] Copper and bronze was known.

See also

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehrgarh</span> Neolithic archaeological site in Balochistan, Pakistan

Mehrgarh is a Neolithic archaeological site situated on the Kacchi Plain of Balochistan in modern-day Pakistan. It is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River and between the modern-day Pakistani cities of Quetta, Kalat and Sibi. The site was discovered in 1974 by the French Archaeological Mission led by the French archaeologists Jean-François Jarrige and his wife, Catherine Jarrige. Mehrgarh was excavated continuously between 1974 and 1986, and again from 1997 to 2000. Archaeological material has been found in six mounds, and about 32,000 artifacts have been collected from the site. The earliest settlement at Mehrgarh, located in the northeast corner of the 495-acre (2.00 km2) site, was a small farming village dated between 7000 BCE and 5500 BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indus Valley Civilisation</span> Bronze Age civilisation in South Asia

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 to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilisations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread, its sites spanning an area from much of modern day Pakistan, to some parts of northwestern India and northeast Afghanistan. The civilisation flourished both in the alluvial plain of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along a system of perennial monsoon-fed rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra, a seasonal river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Marshall (archaeologist)</span> British archaeologist (1876–1958)

Sir John Hubert Marshall was an English archaeologist who was Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928. He oversaw the excavations of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, two of the main cities that comprise the Indus Valley Civilisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aegean art</span>

Aegean art is art that was created in the lands surrounding, and the islands within, the Aegean Sea during the Bronze Age, that is, until the 11th century BC, before Ancient Greek art. Because is it mostly found in the territory of modern Greece, it is sometimes called Greek Bronze Age art, though it includes not just the art of the Mycenaean Greeks, but also that of the Cycladic and Minoan cultures, which converged over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochre Coloured Pottery culture</span> Bronze Age culture of the Indo-Gangetic Plain

The Ochre Coloured Pottery culture (OCP) is a Bronze Age culture of the Indo-Gangetic Plain "generally dated 2000–1500 BCE," extending from eastern Punjab to northeastern Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amri, Sindh</span> Ancient settlement in Sindh province of Pakistan

Amri is an ancient settlement in modern-day Sindh, Pakistan, that goes back to 3600 BCE. The site is located south of Mohenjo Daro on Hyderabad-Dadu Road more than 100 kilometres north of Hyderabad, Pakistan.

Amri–Nal culture is attributed to Amri archaeological sites in Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. It flourished in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. The dual typesites are Amri and Sohr Damb area in Naal, Balochistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kot Bala</span> Archaeological site in Pakistan

Kot Bala, or Balakot is an archaeological site located in Lasbela District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is near the Makran coast of the Arabian Sea, and goes back to around 4000 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pottery in the Indian subcontinent</span>

Pottery in the Indian subcontinent has an ancient history and is one of the most tangible and iconic elements of Indian art. Evidence of pottery has been found in the early settlements of Lahuradewa and later the Indus Valley Civilisation. Today, it is a cultural art that is still practiced extensively in the subcontinent. Until recent times all Indian pottery has been earthenware, including terracotta.

Banawali is an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley civilization period in Fatehabad district, Haryana, India and is located about 120 km northeast of Kalibangan and 16 km from Fatehabad. Banawali, which is earlier called Vanavali, is on the left banks of dried up Sarasvati River. Comparing to Kalibangan, which was a town established in lower middle valley of dried up Sarasvathi River, Banawali was built over upper middle valley of Sarasvati River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Late Neolithic</span> Later part of the Neolithic period in Southwest Asia

In the archaeology of Southwest Asia, the Late Neolithic, also known as the Ceramic Neolithic or Pottery Neolithic, is the final part of the Neolithic period, following on from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding the Chalcolithic. It is sometimes further divided into Pottery Neolithic A (PNA) and Pottery Neolithic B (PNB) phases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhirrana</span> Archaeological site and village in Haryana, India

Bhirrana, also Bhirdana and Birhana, is an archaeological site, located in a small village in the Fatehabad district of the north Indian state of Haryana. Bhirrana's earliest archaeological layers predates the Indus Valley civilisation times, dating to the 8th-7th millennium BCE. The site is one of the many sites seen along the channels of the seasonal Ghaggar river, thought by some to be the Rigvedic Saraswati river.

Alamgirpur is an archaeological site of the Indus Valley civilization that thrived along Yamuna River from the Harappan-Bara period, located in Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the easternmost known site of the civilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mundigak</span> Archeological site in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Mundigak is an archaeological site in Kandahar province in Afghanistan. During the Bronze Age, it was a center of the Helmand culture. It is situated approximately 55 km (34 mi) northwest of Kandahar near Shāh Maqsūd, on the upper drainage of the Kushk-i Nakhud River.

Bara Culture was a culture that emerged in the eastern region of the Indus Valley civilization around 2000 BCE. It developed in the doab between the Yamuna and Sutlej rivers, hemmed on its eastern periphery by the Shivalik ranges of the lower Himalayas. This territory corresponds to modern-day Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh in North India. Older publications regard the Baran pottery to have initially developed independently of the Harappan culture branch of the Indus Valley Civilization from a pre-Harappan tradition, although the two cultures later intermingled in locations such as Kotla Nihang Khan and Bara, Punjab. According to Akinori Uesugi and Vivek Dangi, Bara pottery is a stylistic development of Late Harappan pottery. In the conventional timeline demarcations of the Indus Valley Tradition, the Bara culture is usually placed in the Late Harappan period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damb Sadat</span> Type of archaeological mound

Damb Sadat is an archaeological mound and ancient settlement in the Baluchistan region of Pakistan. It is related to the early phases of the Indus Valley civilisation, and dates to 3500 BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nindowari</span>

Nindowari, also known as Nindo Damb, is a Kulli archaeological site, dating back to chalcolithic period, in Kalat District of Balochistan, Pakistan. Archaeological investigation of the site suggests that the Nindowari complex was occupied by the Harappans before the Kulli civilization arrived and that the Kulli culture was related to or possibly derived from the Harappan culture.

Periano Ghundai meaning "The Hill of Fairies" was an archaeological mound located in the Zhob district in Balochistan, Pakistan. The site is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the town of Zhob. It was excavated in 1924 by Sir Aurel Stein and showed great resemblance to the Harappan culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sohr Damb</span> Archaeological site in Pakistan

Sohr Damb, c. 3800–2300 BC, is an archaeological site, located near Nal, in central Balochistan, Pakistan that begins before the Indus Valley civilization featuring Togau, Kili Ghul Mohammad, and Kechi Beg pottery styles. It has also been known as Naal, Balochistan, and gave its name to the prehistoric Amri-Nal culture, which is attributed to the dual typesites of Amri and Nal.

Killi Kechi Beg, also known as Kechi Beg, is an archaeological site located in the Quetta Valley of Balochistan, Pakistan. The site can be traced back to 3800–3200 BCE, during the developed Neolithic era of the pre–Harappan Indus Valley Civilizations. Based on ceramics from the region that are on exhibit at the Central Asian Antiquities Museum in New Delhi, India, it was found by British archaeologist Stuart Piggott during his explorations in the region in 1943–1944. Killi Kechi Beg is one of several Chalcolithic period sites found in Balochistan dating back to 4500 to 1500 BCE.

References

  1. Murda Sang
  2. Paul Yule (2013), Silver Grave Goods from the Sohr Damb near Nal, Pakistan. Universität Heidelberg
  3. The Harappan Civilisation: Its Sub-cultures, Daily Pioneer, 10 May 2018.
  4. Kulli culture vessel from Bkhar Buthi
  5. Piggott: Prehistoric India, 100-102
  6. Piggott: Prehistoric India, 107-110
  7. Piggott: Prehistoric India, 111