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The Kulli Culture
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Featured July 29 , 2005
The Kulli peoples in Balochistan were trading partners of the Indus Valley civilizations.
Balochistan is the largest province in Pakistan. The area is separated from the Indus River region by a mountain range. The terrain is mountainous and rugged, with barren lands and upland deserts. There are many narrow river valleys but seasonal floods wash away much of the soil and make agriculture difficult. Balochistan was inhabited by nomadic peoples before the rise of the Indus Valley civilization.
By 2600 BCE, the northern areas of Balochistan had been abandoned but the southern regions were populated by what is known as the Kulli culture. Named for a site in Kolwa in southern Balochistan, the Kulli sites were occupied from around 2500 to 2000 BCE. Their culture developed from nomadic camps into subsistence agricultural villages and into surprisingly well designed towns, before reverting to the nomadic camps. Nomadic herdsmen made up most of the population. The permanent settlements were possibly based on irrigation agriculture and appear to have been located along the major land routes between the lower Indus valley and the Harappan ports of Makran. The inhabitants of these towns were not nomadic. The most important Kulli site is Nindowari which features a central mound rising 80 feet above the Porali River and structures built of schist. Plant remains found here include grapes, bread wheat, and six-rowed hulled barley. Another site near Kolwa was excavated by Sir Aurel Stein in the early 1900s. He found streets laid out in a grid lined with rows of houses built from large stone blocks. In the Hab Valley, numerous Kulli sites with planned layouts similar to those of the Harappans have been found, some with paved streets. Many sites are on top of terraced hills with stairs leading to the upper levels, though there are no defense works. Smaller settlements are located in the open plains, most of which are near the remains of dams. Kulli pottery consists of steatite vessels, grey ware, and black-on-grey pottery. Kulli ware is known for a distinctive barrel or canister shape and a humped bull motif. Harappan cart models, thought to have been toys, have been found at Kulli sites, along with two unicorn seals and an Harappan weight. No Kulli seals or weights have been found. It was long thought that the Harappan civilization evolved from the Kullis, but that has been disproven. The two groups existed during the same time and had a fair amount of contact. Harappan goods have been found at Kulli sites, and Kulli goods have been found in Indus sites. There is no evidence that the Kulli peoples themselves traded with anyone but the Indus Valley peoples though Kulli pottery has been found in the grave mounds of Umm An-Nar, which is located on the mainland separated from Abu Dhabi by a narrow strait, and in Iran. There has been much speculation about the nature of the trade between the Kulli and the Indus Valley. One theory is that caravan routes regularly crossed Kulli territory, which would have resulted in an exchange of goods or perhaps the Kulli herdsmen carried out raids on the caravans. This is now disputed as major long distance routes would have avoided Balochistan since the environment is so harsh. Another theory is that the Kulli themselves engaged in transport, due to their nomadic ways, using carts or pack animals. Again, due to the rugged terrain, cartage would not have been practical and there were other less difficult routes for pack animals. The most likely scenario is that Harappan merchants went to Kulli lands specifically to obtain such goods as copper, found in mines in the Kulli hills, which would account for the Harappan goods found near these sites. View Slides from the 1996 joint German-Pakistani Archaeological Mission to Kalat which depict the harshness of the terrain as well as the finds of the expedition. sources: Bibby, Geoffrey. Looking for Dilmun. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969. Ratnager, Shereen. Trading Encounters: From the Euphrates to the Indus in the Bronze Age. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004. The Archaeology of Southeastern Balochistan |
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