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Pottery is found in the oldest remains of Persian culture, which dates back ten thousand years. The earliest painted ceramics, from a region just south of the Caspian Sea, have geometric designs.

Around 4000 bce a wide range of stylized animals were introduced as subjects painted on ceramics. Generally, the horns and tails of the animals were exaggerated and depicted in a decorative fashion. The animals on this object may be stylized ibexes or mountain goats.