Mohenjo-daro (lit. Mound of the Dead); situated in the province of Sindh; Pakistan; was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. Built around 2600 BC; it was one of the world's earliest major urban settlements; existing at the same time as the civilizations of ancient Egypt; Mesopotamia; and Crete. The archaeological ruins of the city are designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A bronze statuette dubbed the "Dancing Girl"; 10.8 cm high and some 4;500 years old; was found in Mohenjo-daro in 1926. In 1973; British archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler described the item as his favorite statuette:

'There is her little Balochi-style face with pouting lips and insolent look in the eyes. She's about fifteen years old I should think; not more; but she stands there with bangles all the way up her arm and nothing else on. A girl perfectly; for the moment; perfectly confident of herself and the world. There's nothing like her; I think; in the world'.

John Marshall; another archeologist at Mohenjo-daro; described the figure as 'a young girl; her hand on her hip in a half-impudent posture; and legs slightly forward as she beats time to the music with her legs and feet'.

The archaeologist Gregory Possehl said of the statuette; 'We may not be certain that she was a dancer; but she was good at what she did and she knew it'.