Young Historian  2006 Winning Entry - George Hastwell School


Investigating the Indus Script "Fish" signs in the Indus script

The 'fish' is a frequent sign in the Indus script. The children wrote about or drew Asko Parpola’s theory: he has interpreted 'fish' as a pictorial pun for star = home of God = a God's name, through a root word 'Min' in Dravidian languages which has several meanings - fish/glitter/star.

An activity that could be developed from this work could be a poster, collage (using silver paint!), or animation, to show the visual links between these words.

Inclusive writing and the Indus Script ? Children used this sign theory with their initials, on their own seals.Parpola's "boy or youth" sign.

The Indus script is thought to be logo-syllabic – eg. signs are not pictograms, but have pictorial meanings representing concepts or sounds. Inclusive Writer software uses pictorial symbols for actions or objects. “Stick people” combinations are used for many words. Stick men also feature in the Indus script, so activities picking out these signs, and comparing them are Inclusive writer stick people!Indus script "stick men" variations.possible. Dr Mahadevan's theory is that they represent different titles of status or office.

Teach Indus pages produced by History Education Consultancy for educational use only, may not be published elsewhere. Copyright and acknowledgements.