Eurasian Prehistory, 9 (1–2): 29–49. THE SHELL MIDDENS OF THE BAY OF DAUN: ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AND HUMAN IMPACT ALONG THE COAST OF LAS BELA (BALOCHISTAN, PAKISTAN) BETWEEN THE 8 TH AND THE 5 TH MILLENNIUM BP Paolo Biagi 1 , Tiziano Fantuzzi 2 and Carlo Franco 3 1 Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University Venice, Ca’ Cappello, San Polo 2035, I-30125 Venezia, Italy; pavelius@unive.it 2 Department of Humanities, Ca’ Foscari University Venice, Palazzo Malcanton Marcor´, Dorsoduro 3245, I-30123, Venezia, Italy; tiziano.fantuzzi@gmail.com 3 Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University Venice, Ca’ Cappello, San Polo 2035, I-30125 Venezia, Italy. Italy; utinum@gmail.com Abstract The discovery of shell middens around the Bay of Daun and Lake Siranda (Las Bela, Balochistan) shows that groups of prehistoric gatherers settled along the coasts of Las Bela at least since the last two centuries of the 8 th millennium BP. The radiocarbon dating of the Daun sites indicates that the exploitation of the mangrove resources was not continuous, but took place mainly during two distinct periods of the 7 th and 5 th millennia BP. The presence of Neolithic shell middens along the northern coasts of the Arabian Sea reinforces the impression that this part of the Indian Ocean was first settled during the Middle Holocene when the sea level had stabilized. The radiocarbon dates obtained from marine and mangrove shells from the Tharro and Makli Hills in Lower Sindh, suggest that coastal seafaring began already in this period. Key words: Arabian Sea, Balochistan, Las Bela, shell middens, radiocarbon chronology, mangrove environment, mon- soon cycles. PREFACE The first shell middens of the coast of Las Bela (Balochistan, Pakistan) were discovered in January 2000 during a visit paid by one of the au- thors (P.B.), together with Professor A.R. Khan of the Department of Geography, Karachi Univer- sity, to Daun, a small bay some 15 km south of Gadani promontory. Given the importance of the finds, surveys aimed at the discovery of more middens were promoted by the Italian Archaeo- logical Mission in 2004 and 2008, along the shores of the same bay, and the high marine ter- race that extends south of it (Biagi, 2004; 2011a; Biagi and Franco, 2008). Little is known of the prehistory of Las Bela (Shaffer, 1986). Most of the surveys have been carried out in the regions of the interior (Stein, 1943; Raikes and Dyson, 1961; Khan, 1964; Rai- kes, 1967–1968; Fairservis, 1975; Khan, 1979b; De Cardi, 1983; Flam, 1998; Franke-Vogt, 1999), while no attention has ever been paid to this part of the north Arabian Sea coast. From this territory A.R. Khan (1979a:5) reports the presence of pre- historic finds near Kunari Nallah, between Ga- dani and Phuari headlands, whose Perh limesto- nes are rich in flint nodules exploited since at least the beginning of the Mesolithic (Abbas, 1976:7; Khan, 1979a:12; Naseem et al., 1996–1997:129). During the surveys carried out in the 1970s, Professor A.R. Khan discovered a few prehistoric sites west of the Hab River mouth (Khan, 1979a: map 1); he also pointed out the importance of the Windar River delta (Khan, 1979b:75) and Khur-