Potential Steatite Sources for the Indus Civilization
Steatite (soapstone) artifacts have been found at nearly every excavated Harappan period (2600-1900 BC) site and were the primary element used to make seals.
361 peer-reviewed articles from leading journals about the latest discoveries about the ancient Indus civilization, its antecedents and contemporaries in the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia, during the Bronze Age 3500-1700 BCE by the world's ancient Indus archaeologists and scholars.
Probabilistic Analysis of an Ancient Undeciphered Script
First published by the IEEE Computer Society in 2010, this paper by a University of Washington Professor analyzes the count of signs and combinations in the Indus script.
Inscribed Objects from Harappa Excavations 1987-2007
Two leading ancient Indus archaeologists on the inscribed objects discovered over the past 20 years at the ancient site of Harappa in Punjab, Pakistan.
The Bronze Age Indus Quarries of the Rohri Hills and Ongar
A report on the largest archaeological site in South Asia, an industrial-scale enterprise that goes back hundreds of thousands of years: flint mining.
How did the ‘great god’ get a ‘blue neck’?
A remarkable bilingual clue to the Indus script is examined.
A Dravidian solution to the Indus script problem
A Dravidian solution to the Indus script problem was presented as the Katalgnar M. Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Research Endowment Lecture on June 25, 2010 in Coimbatore.
Excavations at Shikarpur, Gujarat 2008-2009
Continuing work by the archaeologists at MSU University in Baroda including new seals and classical Harappan pottery finds.
Introduction to Study of the Indus Script
In 2004 Steve Farmer, Richard Sproat (University of Illinois) and Michael Witzel (Harvard University) stunned the world of ancient Indus scholarship with the claim that the Indus sign system was not writing. Asko Parpola's work was a target of their critique. This is his response.
A Statistical Approach for Pattern Search in Indus Writing
The first of a continuing series of articles by scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) undertaking a scientific analysis of Indus sign patterns.
'Hind Leg' + 'Fish': Towards Further Understanding of the Indus Script
Methods and results of a systematic attempt to decipher the Indus script as a logo-syllabic writing system with Proto-Dravidian as the underlying language are first outlined.
Indus Script: Search for Grammar
Indus Script: Search for Grammar is based on a lecture first given at the Chennai Seminar The Indus Script: Problems and Prospects in 2006 with an update in Dec. 2007.
Segmentation of Indus Texts
A statistical analysis by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Team.
Neanderthals at the South-easternmost Edge
The Spread of Levalliosian Mousterian (600,000 BP and 40,000 BP) in the Indian Subcontinent.
The Paleolithic settlement of Sindh (Pakistan): A review
A review of recent research and findings in Sindh, and a review of a book on the larger Paleolithic Settlement of Asia over the past 100,000 years.
Archaeological Surveys in Lower Sindh: Preliminary Results of the 2009 Season
Results from new discoveries of flint sites dating back to the 7th millennium (7000-6000 BCE) suggestive of sea-faring in the Arabian Sea thousands of years before the Indus Civilization.
The Archaeological Sites of the Rohri Hills (Sindh, Pakistan): the Way they are Being Destroyed
Some 90 miles from Mohenjo-daro, one of the largest archaeological sites in the world is being destroyed after surviving for hundreds of thousands of years.
The shell-middens of the Arabian Sea and Gulf: maritime connections in the seventh millenium BP?
The discovery of shell-middens (mounds) in Las Bela, Balochistan, from roughly 8000 BCE raises the possibility of trade across the Arabian Sea during Neolithic times.
New Radiocarbon Dates for the Prehistory of the Arabian Sea Coasts of Lower Sindh and Las Bela in Balochistan (Pakistan)
New radiocarbon dates from coastal sites in Lower Sindh and the adjoining Las Bela area in Balochistan from marine and mangrove shells and shell-middens at 11 sites.
The Chipped Stone Assemblage of the Tharro Hills
A first description of the chipped stone assemblage collected by A.R. Khan at the fortified Amri settlement of the Tharro Hills in Sindh.
The Levalloisian Assemblages of Sindh
and their importance in the Middle Paleolithic of the Indian subcontinent
The Mesolithic Settlement of Sindh
Some 7,000 years before the Indus civilization, there were flourishing communities in the area explains Dr. Biagi of Foscari Univerisity in Venice, Italy.
A Megalithic Pottery Inscription and a Harappa Tablet: A case of extraordinary resemblance
The resemblance between an inscribed terracotta dish from approximately 100 BCE and a three-sided tablet found in Harappa.
A Note on the Muruku Sign of the Indus Script in light of the Mayiladuthurai Stone Axe Discovery
A proposed Indus sign reading of Muruku on a stone axe found in South India.
Agricultural Terms in the Indus Script
Iravatham Mahadevan explores a set of ancient Indus signs that he believes are related to agriculture using comparisons to signs in ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.
Meluhha and Agastya: Alpha and Omega of the Indus Script
In a tour-de-force of interpretation, Iravatham Mahadevan attempts to interpret two of the most common ancient Indus signs using parallels from old Tamil.
Sidis in the Agate Bead Industry of Western India
In this paper, historical records about the Sidis and their own oral traditions will be critically examined to gain new perspectives on their complex history, beginning with their origins in Africa and with a special focus on their role in the agate bead industry.
Socio-Ritual Artifacts of Upper Palaeolithic Hunter-Gatherers in South Asia
The first section focuses on theoretical issues, the definition of terms and various interpretive biases regarding "ritual" artifacts in the prehistoric period, while the second half examines the important "ritual" artifacts of the Upper Palaeolithic hunter~gatherer populations in South Asia and discuss future directions for research.
New Discoveries of Mesolithic sites in the Thar Desert (Upper Sindh, Pakistan)
The Mesolithic sites discovered during recent surveys carried out by the ‘Joint Rohri Hills Project’ (Biagi & Shaikh 1994) in the Thari District of Upper Sindh.
Chronology and Interrelations Between Harappa and Central Asia
Highlights of excavations of the Ravi and Kot Diji levels at Harappa which illustrate the emergence of complex crafts and trade, with a special emphasis on interaction with Central Asia. It also presents the excavations and experimental studies on the production of faience and steatite tablets.
Stone Beads and Pendant Making Techniques
The large number and great variety of stone beads on the Bead TImeline make their origins and manufacture of special interest. Two factors define the process: the characteristics of the raw material being used; and the effort that a beadmaker wishes to expend.