LONDON, ENGLAND: A rare collection or pre-Harappan ceramics and sculptures being exhibited for the first time in London have been described by dealers as the oldest high quality treasures of their kind anywhere in the world. This collection of pots, figurines and tablets is from a site in the upper Indus, near Mehrgarh in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan. Their significance is the evidence they show of a pre-Harappan and pre-Mohenjodaro civilization that existed along the middle reaches of the Indus, dating back to 7,000 BCE. The article in the “Daily Pioneer” does not explain how a private dealer came into possession of these artifacts. One of dealer Gotz’s prized exhibits is a Mehrgarh bull with a sheep’s head and painted in orange vegetable dye. But his “piece de resistance” is a broken clay pot, circa 3,800 BCE, that depicts “pipal” tree leaves, fish and the earliest known representation of the mythical griffon, a winged horse, that reappears a thousand years later in the Mesopotamian valleys of ancient Iraq. Gotz’s asking price for the pot is $95,000.
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