Sohr Damb ('Red Mound'), c. 3800–2300 BC,[2] is an archaeological site near Nal in central Balochistan, Pakistan that begins before the Indus Valley civilization featuring Togau, Kili Ghul Mohammad, and Kechi Beg pottery styles.
[2] 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.
[3] Since 2001, the site has been systematically excavated by the German Archaeological Institute and the Department of Archeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan.
[4] The oldest period (Period I) belongs to the cultural complexes called Togau, Kili Ghul Mohammad, and Kechi Beg, but new research is needed to establish the exact sequence of them, and until now, 16 skeletons were found in 11 burials,[2] some of them located in small chambers.
The pottery belongs to different cultural styles, such as Togau A–D, Kili Ghul Mohammad, and Kechi Beg, which were previously believed to represent development through time.
The assemblage is comparable to Mehrgarh III–IV and Shahi Tump in Makran, but the differences in burial customs and grave goods are pronounced.
Some parallels can also be drawn to the Sialk III horizon in Iran, so a date between 4000/3800 and 3200 BC is proposed.
The Togau pottery, which was so common in Period I, was no longer produced and was replaced by the typical Nal pottery which is buff and carries complex geometric and figurative motifs painted in black, and often with turquoise, yellow, and red as additional colors.
From this period onwards, and throughout the borderlands, Mundigak IV reached its largest size, Shahr-i Sokhta (II–III) grew into an urban center with monumental architecture, and in the Indus Valley, after 2600 BC, a centralized state took shape that gradually expanded over a huge area[2]: p.707 The Period IV layers are badly eroded.
The pottery resembles so-called Kulli-Harappan types, and combines features of the indigenous Kulli complex with those of the Indus civilization and reflects the westerly expansion into the Kulli domain of this civilization, the calibrated dating results of the few samples available from Period IV fall to between 2500 and 2300 BC.
[8] Sohr Damb ceramics, wheel-turned, and with polychrome decoration, shows some parallels with Mundigak period III1-6.