Water buffalo seal from Mohenjo-daro

In November 2007 scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), one of India's most prestiguous scientific institutions, began publishing a series of papers on their analysis of ancient Indus script signs. Supported by a five-year grant from the Jamsetji Tata Trust, the researchers plan to approach issues around the ancient script with rigorous statistical and analytical tools. They are working with Iravatham Mahadevan, one of India's foremost script analysts. This is the first of their papers.