THE AMRI CHALCOLITHIC PHASE IN SINDH (PAKISTAN): WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE SHOULD KNOW

The problem of the origin of the Indus Civilisation has attracted attention of many colleagues working on the archaeology of the Indian Subcontinent and the Indus Valley in particular. What is the role played by the cultural processes preceding the origin and spread of one of the most important Bronze Age civilisations of the ancient world? This paper examines some aspects of the Amri Phase, which flourished in Sindh during the 4th millennium BC. Our knowledge in this area is very poor. It relies almost exclusively on the ceramic assemblages retrieved during excavations carried out in the type site in the 1960s. Research currently underway in Lower Sindh has led to the discovery of more sites relevant for this problem. Many of them are located close to the ancient Arabian Sea coastline or on limestone terraces which used to be islands in the Chalcolithic times. They consist of shell middens, whose surface has yielded characteristic Amri Culture knapped stone assemblages