Indus Valley terracotta cylindrical vessel, Circa 2500–2000 BC

Delicately moulded cylindrical vessel from the Indus Valley, probably used in ancient times as a storage container. The object has a cylindrical body and a small base, and the entire exterior is decorated with a band of brown-black pigment with geometric motifs, composed of alternating horizontal panels of straight and curved lines.

The Indus Valley culture was a civilisation that developed between 3000 BC and 1300 BC around the Indus River in Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-western India. It spanned a hundred years of settlements, and its two most important cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. By 2400 BC, a complex urban civilisation had developed, comparable to those of Egypt and Mesopotamia.