Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c11.71

c11.71

Although we have described as a stylistic sequence the relationship between the Amri, Nundara, and Nal styles of pot painting, it is not possible to say that these stages actually followed one another in time. The decisive evidence, of course, would be that of stratigraphy, but, as we have seen, the lack of good stratigraphical sequences is one of the troubles in Indian prehistory, and we can throw little light on the relationships of the three styles by this means. At the sites in the Nundara region, Amri types appear to be associated superficially with those distinctive of Nundara itself, and in Sind Nal motifs and potsherds do occur in a stratigraphical context, which implies that they are contemporary with at least a late phase of Amri. On the whole, the impression one gains is that while the curious and elaborate Nal style evolved in the mountain fastnesses of Jhalawan, the less distinctive Amri motifs enjoyed a long popularity with little change in Sind, and that the Nundara style may well have continued to exist side by side with both of these.