Circa 2000-2500 BC A thin-walled, wheel-thrown pottery bowl standing on a small circular foot, the bottom section of the body is tapers upwards to the centre ridge of the body, at this point it slops inwards towards the rim. The exterior is painted with a register of repeated abstract motifs which are framed by two sets of brown horizontal lines and painted with water buffalo and ibex. The earliest traces of civilisation in the Indian subcontinent are to be found in places along, or close, to the Indus River. Excavations first conducted in 1921-22, in the ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, both now in Pakistan, pointed to a highly complex civilization that first developed some 4,500-5,000 years ago, and subsequent archaeological and historical research has now furnished us with a more detailed picture of the Indus Valley Civilization and its inhabitants. The Indus Valley people were most likely Dravidians, who may have been pushed down into south India when the Aryans, with their more advanced military technology, commenced their migrations to India around 2,000 BC. Though the Indus Valley script remains undeciphered down to the present day, the numerous seals discovered during the excavations, as well as statuary and pottery, not to mention the ruins of numerous Indus Valley cities, have enabled scholars to construct a reasonably plausible account of the Indus Valley Civilization. Size: L:240mm / W:310mm ; 6.9kg. Provenance: From the collection of a London gentleman; formerly acquired in early 2000s in Belgium; previously in 1970s European collection.