Writing

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.

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Excavations at Harappa 1994-1995: New Perspectives on Indus Scripts, Craft Activities, and City Organization

Excavations at Harappa 1944-1955: New Perspectives on Indus Scripts, Craft Activities, and City Organization

Richard H. Meadow

Harappa Site Plan Until quite recently, the common view of the Indus Civilization has been as a phenomenon largely undifferentiated in space and time over more than 500,000 sq km and the 500 to 700 years of its existence (2600/2500-2000/1900 B.C.). With continuing archaeological work throughout

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Indus Administrative Technology - New Insights on Harappan Stamp Seals and their Impressions on Clay Tags

Dennys Frenez

A richly illustrated slide journey through seals and sealings, how and why they were used in other ancient civilizations, and primarily what we might know and deduce about their use in ancient Indus cities. Dennys Frenez has been studying a large group of accidentally fired Lothal sealings for many years, and is joined by other distinguished archaeologists in what was originally a symposium on bead and seal technologies at the University of Padua, Italy, in 2019.

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Is the Indus script indeed not a writing system?

Asko Parpola

In 2008, Dr. Parpola published an updated 2nd paper addressing the controversial Farmer thesis Is the Indus script indeed not a writing system? It originally appeared as part of a felicitations volume in honor of Iravatham Mahadevan published in Chennai, India.

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The Tiny Steatite Seals of Harappa

Richard H. Meadow

A closer look at the tablets discovered at Harappa during HARPS excavations and the locations where they were discovered at the site.

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Origin and Development of the Indus Script: Insights from Harappa and other sites

Jonathan Mark Kenoyer

This comprehensive look at the development of the Indus script makes a clear and cogent case that its origins likely can be traced to the pre and post-firing graffiti marks found on pottery throughout the region.

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'Hind Leg' + 'Fish': Towards Further Understanding of the Indus Script

Asko Parpola

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.

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The Indus Seals: An Overview of Iconography and Style

Jonathan Mark Kenoyer

This paper examines the nature of Indus seals and the different aspects of seal iconography and style in order to better understand their overall role in the Indus civilization.

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The Indus Script: Origins, Use and Disappearance

Jonathan Mark Kenoyer

"The contexts of script and changes in the writing over time indicate that the Indus script was versatile and that it was probably used to communicate complex ideas as well as multiple languages.

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A Dravidian solution to the Indus script problem

Asko Parpola

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.

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