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Sensitivity of Indus Script to Site and Type of Object* Nisha Yadav Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India The Indus valley civilisation (2600 to 1900 BCE ) left behind its undeciphered script on several small, inscribed objects. In our earlier work, we have investigated the structural aspects of the Indus script, the design of its signs and the nature of the inscribed patterns on these objects. Here we study these inscribed objects with respect to their type and the sites where they were found. The distribution of the text lengths and the usage of signs on these objects indicate subtle variations in the context of their site of occurrence and type. Some signs have affinity to specific sites or types of objects. By comparing the text length distributions and the usage of signs on these inscribed objects, we cluster the sites of occurrence and the types of objects based on their level of similarity. The study provides an understanding of the sensitivity of the Indus script to dierent sites and types of objects.  Key words: Undeciphered scripts, ancient scripts, Indus valley civilisation, inscribed objects, Harappan script, Indus script - site of occurrence and medium of writing, clustering of sites and types of objects 1. Introduction The Indus valley civilisation flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from 2600 to 1900 BCE  though its roots can be traced * I wish to acknowledge the support of Jamsetji Tata Trust for this work. I also wish to thank Dr. Iravatham Mahadevan for his insightful guidance. I am thankful to Prof. M. N. Vahia and Dr. Ambuja Salgaonkar for their critical suggestions and inputs. I would like to thank Mr. Hrishikesh Joglekar for his help in designing the software used for generating the text images. I thank Prof. J. M. Kenoyer and Harappa.com for their kind permission to use the image of an Indus seal in the paper and for their continuing support. SCRIPTA, Volume 5 (September 2013): 67-103 © 2013 The Hunmin jeongeum Society

Nisha Yadav on "Sensitivity of Indus Script to Site and Type of Object". from Scripta, Volume 5 (October 2013), pp. 67 to 103

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