[2] The Amratian culture is named after the archaeological site of el-Amrah, located around 120 km (75 mi) south of Badari in Upper Egypt.

However, this period is better attested at the Nagada site, thus it also is referred to as the Naqada I culture.

The predecessor Badarian culture had also discovered that malachite could be heated into copper beads;[a] the Amratians shaped this metal by chipping.

Food, weaponry, statuettes, decorations, malachite, and occasionally dogs were buried with the deceased.

The first palettes used in the Badarian Period and in Naqada I were usually plain, rhomboidal or rectangular in shape, without any further decoration.