# The Indus script > About 4,000 short inscriptions on seals, sealings, tablets, pottery and a few other objects from the Indus civilisation (c. 2600 to 1900 BC) use a set of… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:47:35+00:00 --- **MYS** 0CWY3A6018QP·Mystery · script # The Indus script **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=indus-script) The Indus script ![Indus script](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/indus-script-lead) ALFGRN · CC BY-SA 2.0 Where Indus valley and surrounding regions, chiefly Mohenjo-daro and Harappa (Pakistan) and sites in Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan (India)⁠[[1]] When Mature Harappan period, c. 2600 to 1900 BC⁠[[1]] Corpus 2,906 inscribed objects in Mahadevan's 1977 concordance; about 4,000 known today⁠[[2]] Signs 417 in Mahadevan's sign list; other lists range from about 400 to nearly 700⁠[[2]] Text length Average about five signs; longest on one surface about seventeen⁠[[4]] Direction Mostly right to left⁠[[2]] Prize US$1 million offered by the Tamil Nadu government, 5 January 2025⁠[[10]] Status Unexplained Questions 0 of 4 answered People [**Richard Sproat** Computational linguist; non-script argument and statistical critiques](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/people/FIG0CWY3C4G348W/richard-sproat)[**Iravatham Mahadevan** Epigraphist; the 1977 concordance](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/people/FIG0CWY3BD21QNX/iravatham-mahadevan)[**Asko Parpola** Indologist; corpus editor and Dravidian hypothesis](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/people/FIG0CWY3BMW6KRV/asko-parpola)[**Michael Witzel** Co-author of the non-script argument](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/people/FIG0CWY3CCA5KY1/michael-witzel)[**Rajesh P. N. Rao** Lead author of the 2009 entropy paper](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/people/FIG0CWY3CM457HT/rajesh-p-n-rao) All 7 people › [**Steve Farmer** Co-author of the non-script argument](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/people/FIG0CWY3BWP7HAX/steve-farmer)[**M. K. Stalin** Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu; announced the prize](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/people/FIG0CWY3CVY4J48/m-k-stalin) Catalog key**MYS** 0CWY3A6018QP The cities of the Indus civilisation, Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi and hundreds of smaller sites, produced inscribed objects for about seven centuries, from around 2600 to 1900 BC. Most are small stone seals, carved with an animal and a line of signs, and the clay sealings they stamped; others are miniature tablets, pottery graffiti, copper tablets and a few larger objects, including a ten-sign inscription set into a gateway at Dholavira⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. Iravatham Mahadevan's 1977 concordance listed 2,906 inscribed objects and 417 signs; Asko Parpola's photographic corpus and later finds have taken the count to around 4,000 objects, with sign counts that vary from about 400 to nearly 700 depending on how variants are split⁠[[2]]⁠[[1]]⁠[[3]]. The inscriptions are short. The average is about five signs, the longest on a single surface about seventeen, and there is nothing like a tablet archive, a monumental text or a letter⁠[[4]]. Positional analysis shows regularities: certain signs favour the start of a text, a small set of terminal signs favour the end, and some sign pairs recur far more often than chance⁠[[2]]⁠[[5]]. The direction of writing, mostly right to left, is established from overlaps and cramping at line ends⁠[[2]]. What the signs mean is unknown. The most developed proposal, argued by Parpola and Mahadevan among others, is that they write an early Dravidian language, with some signs read by rebus (the fish sign as Dravidian min, "fish" and "star")⁠[[1]]. Indo-Aryan and other readings have been published and none has been accepted by specialists⁠[[1]]⁠[[6]]. A different argument, put by Steve Farmer, Richard Sproat and Michael Witzel in 2004, holds that the signs were never a writing system for a language at all, but a non-linguistic symbol system like heraldry or religious emblems; it set off a statistical dispute in Science and Computational Linguistics between 2009 and 2014 that has not been resolved⁠[[4]]⁠[[7]]⁠[[8]]⁠[[9]]. In January 2025 the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu announced a US$1 million prize for a decipherment, with a research chair in Mahadevan's name⁠[[10]]. Of the 4 questions on this site, 0 are answered. The most likely answer to “Are the Indus signs a writing system for a spoken language?”, not yet confirmed: the signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**Are the Indus signs a writing system for a spoken language?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3ETE3XCV/are-the-indus-signs-a-writing-system-for-a-spoken-language)Most likely: the signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language [**If the signs are writing, which language do they record?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3F28487R/if-the-signs-are-writing-which-language-do-they-record)Most likely: the signs record an early Dravidian language [All 4 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=indus-script) ## The object [![Inscribed stamp seal with unicorn (Met 49.40.1)](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/c107f53b5cd34488ae4be14b866267740873f40ff9b9fd5735397cdc99da4d7a/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/artifacts/ART0CWY3ST07234/inscribed-stamp-seal-with-unicorn-met-49-40-1) Inscribed stamp seal with unicorn (Met 49.40.1)The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1900. CC0 (Met Open Access)[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/artifacts/ART0CWY3ST07234/inscribed-stamp-seal-with-unicorn-met-49-40-1) The corpus is scattered across museums in Pakistan, India and elsewhere, and is known mainly through three publications. Mahadevan's concordance (1977) gives each text in a standard sign font with a sign list of 417 signs and tables of sign pairs and positions; the Indus Research Centre at the Roja Muthiah Research Library in Chennai has put it online free⁠[[2]]⁠[[11]]. Parpola's Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions (1987 to 2010, with later volumes) gives photographs of every object by collection, and his 1994 book sets out the Dravidian case⁠[[1]]. Bryan Wells's sign list and the Interactive Corpus of Indus Texts (ICIT), maintained by Andreas Fuls at TU Berlin, give a different, finer sign inventory and a searchable database available to researchers on request⁠[[3]]⁠[[12]]. The objects themselves are mostly steatite seals two to three centimetres square, carved in intaglio so that the sealing reads correctly; the signs were therefore cut in mirror image⁠[[1]]. **Map of the country** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/map) [+][−] 1 **Mohenjo-daro** Indus city Within 1 km 2 **Dholavira** Indus city Within 1 km 3 **Harappa** Indus city Within 1 km 4 **Chennai** City Within 10 km Within 1 kmA regionNatural Earth ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## What is known Three things are secure. The signs form a bounded set with stable shapes across sites and centuries, which means the system was learned and transmitted⁠[[1]]. The texts have positional structure: n-gram models trained on the corpus find that sign order is far from random, that some signs are confined to the start or the end, and that the structure is strong enough to predict missing signs in damaged texts⁠[[5]]⁠[[2]]. And the texts are short: with no text over about seventeen signs on one surface, the corpus has far less connected material than any deciphered script had when it was read⁠[[4]]. What is contested is whether this structure is the structure of language. Rao and colleagues showed in 2009 that the conditional entropy of sign pairs in the Indus corpus lies in the range occupied by natural-language scripts and away from two artificial extremes, a rigidly ordered and a random sequence, and argued that this raised the probability that the signs encode language⁠[[7]]. Sproat replied that the two extremes were invented controls, that real non-linguistic systems such as Vinča signs, Mesopotamian kudurru emblems and heraldry can show similar entropies, and that the measure cannot discriminate; Rao and colleagues answered that they had never claimed entropy alone was decisive and that the comparison systems Sproat named were poorly documented⁠[[8]]⁠[[13]]⁠[[14]]. Sproat's 2014 study in Language tested a wider set of statistics on linguistic and non-linguistic corpora and concluded that such measures do not settle whether an unknown system is writing⁠[[9]]. ## What has been tested Decipherments have been tested against four requirements: a published sign list and values, readings that apply across the corpus rather than to chosen texts, consistency with the known direction and positional structure, and some external check. The Dravidian hypothesis has a method, rebus reading anchored in Dravidian words and in later Indian iconography, and a small number of proposed readings, but no reading of a whole text that can be verified⁠[[1]]. Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit readings recur, most recently in 2024 and 2025 claims circulated online and dismissed on the Indology list as iterations of earlier ones⁠[[6]]. Farmer, Sproat and Witzel offered a US$10,000 prize in 2004 for the discovery of an Indus inscription of at least fifty signs, on the argument that a literate civilisation leaves long texts; none has been found⁠[[4]]. The non-script argument has itself been tested statistically, with the inconclusive result described above⁠[[7]]⁠[[8]]⁠[[9]]. Yadav and colleagues' n-gram analysis found syntactic regularities of the kind writing shows, while noting that the same regularities could arise in a structured non-linguistic system⁠[[5]]. The Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology, working with the Roja Muthiah Research Library, has catalogued more than 15,000 graffiti-bearing potsherds from Tamil Nadu sites and compared the marks with Indus signs; the Chief Minister's January 2025 keynote put the overlap at about 60 per cent of Indus signs, a figure that measures sign-shape resemblance, not reading⁠[[11]]⁠[[10]]. ## The readings Four positions are live. First, the signs write an early Dravidian language, the view of Parpola, Mahadevan and most who think it is writing; its evidence is the rebus readings, the Dravidian substrate in later Indic languages and the survival of Brahui in Baluchistan⁠[[1]]. Second, the signs write an Indo-Aryan language, which would require Indo-Aryan speakers in the Indus valley before 1900 BC and has no reading accepted by specialists⁠[[6]]. Third, the signs are not writing: a system of emblems, clan or office marks, or religious symbols with structure but no phonetic content, which explains the brevity, the absence of long texts and the lack of writing on perishable media in a civilisation with extensive trade⁠[[4]]. Fourth, the signs are a logographic or logo-syllabic system that encodes names, titles and commodities in a language that cannot be identified from such short texts, a position compatible with the positional statistics and with the failure of every reading⁠[[5]]⁠[[9]]. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1969 | Asko Parpola, Seppo Koskenniemi, Simo Parpola and Pentti Aalto⁠[16] | The Indus inscriptions write a Proto-Dravidian language, and many signs can be read by rebus. | Disputed | The proposed readings have not been accepted as a decipherment, though the Dravidian hypothesis they began remains the main one⁠[1]. | | 1977 | Iravatham Mahadevan⁠[2] | The texts run mostly right to left, and their signs keep regular positions at the start and end of texts. | Accepted | N-gram models of the corpus find the same positional regularities⁠[5]. | | 1994 | Asko Parpola⁠[1] | The script writes an early Dravidian language; signs such as the fish are read by rebus, as Dravidian min for fish and star. | Most likely | It is the most developed language hypothesis, but no reading has been confirmed by a bilingual or a long text⁠[4]. | | 2000 | Natwar Jha and N. S. Rajaram⁠[18] | The Indus script is an early form of Vedic Sanskrit, and a seal from Mohenjo-daro shows a horse. | Ruled out | The horse seal was shown to be a computer-altered image of a broken unicorn-bull seal⁠[17]. | | 2000 | Michael Witzel and Steve Farmer⁠[17] | The horse seal is a doctored image of the broken seal M-772, which shows a unicorn bull. | Accepted | Mahadevan and Parpola agreed the animal is a unicorn bull, and the original seal and its impression are published⁠[17]. | | 2004 | Steve Farmer, Richard Sproat and Michael Witzel⁠[4] | The Indus signs were never writing: their brevity, the lack of long texts and their sign frequencies point to a non-linguistic symbol system. | Disputed | The statistical exchanges that followed did not settle it, and the positional structure is strong⁠[5]⁠[9]. | | 2009 | Rajesh Rao and colleagues⁠[7] | The conditional entropy of Indus sign pairs falls in the range of natural-language scripts, which supports the view that the signs are writing. | Disputed | Sproat showed that real non-linguistic systems give similar values, so the measure does not discriminate⁠[8]⁠[9]. | | 2010 | Richard Sproat⁠[8] | The Science paper's artificial controls were uninformative, and its result does not show the signs are language. | Most likely | Rao and colleagues replied that entropy was never offered as proof, but the critique's main point has not been answered with new controls⁠[13]. | | 2010 | Nisha Yadav and colleagues⁠[5] | Sign order in the Indus texts is far from random, strong enough for an n-gram model to restore missing signs. | Accepted | The positional regularities agree with Mahadevan's tables and are not disputed by the non-script side⁠[2]⁠[9]. | | 2014 | Richard Sproat⁠[9] | Tested on real writing and real non-linguistic symbol systems, statistical measures cannot tell whether an unknown system is language. | Most likely | Rao and colleagues dispute his reading of the results, and no new test has settled the exchange⁠[19]. | | 2015 | Rajesh Rao and colleagues⁠[19] | Sproat misrepresents the entropy work, and his own results are consistent with the Indus signs being writing. | Disputed | It restates the 2009 position without new controls, and the dispute stands where it did⁠[9]. | | 2019 | Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay⁠[20] | Most Indus inscriptions are logographic data-carriers for administration and trade, not phonetic texts. | Still possible | It assigns no sound values or language, so it cannot be checked against a reading⁠[20]. | | 2025 | K. Rajan and R. Sivanantham, Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology⁠[21] | About 90 per cent of graffiti marks on Tamil Nadu potsherds have parallels among the Indus signs. | Still possible | The matches are of shape, with no control comparison against unrelated mark systems and a gap of about a thousand years⁠[21]. | ## What would settle it A bilingual, which Indus trade with Mesopotamia makes possible in principle, or a long text of fifty signs or more, would settle whether the signs are writing and give a decipherment something to work on⁠[[4]]⁠[[1]]. Short of that, a decipherment must publish its sign values and read the corpus, not a sample, with results that can be checked against the positional statistics and the iconography⁠[[1]]. The 2025 prize has no published judging criteria; a credible award would need an expert panel and these tests⁠[[10]]⁠[[15]]. On the non-script question, the useful work is better comparison corpora of real non-linguistic systems, which is what Sproat's 2014 study began⁠[[9]]. ## Questions 0 of 4 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 4](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=indus-script) **0** [Are the Indus signs a writing system for a spoken language?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3ETE3XCV/are-the-indus-signs-a-writing-system-for-a-spoken-language) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language **0** [If the signs are writing, which language do they record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3F28487R/if-the-signs-are-writing-which-language-do-they-record) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the signs record an early Dravidian language ## Evidence 17 findings [Are the Indus signs a writing system for a spoken language?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3ETE3XCV/are-the-indus-signs-a-writing-system-for-a-spoken-language)8 findings [The signs are a logo-syllabic writing system that encodes a spoken language.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3FSP48TH/the-signs-are-a-logo-syllabic-writing-system-that-encodes-a)Most likely +[n-gram models find strong positional and sequential structure, including start-favouring and end-favouring signs, and can restore missing signs in damaged texts.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3G1G5FGM/n-gram-models-find-strong-positional-and-sequential)Supported +[Conditional entropy of sign pairs lies in the range of natural-language scripts.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3G9A1MCY/conditional-entropy-of-sign-pairs-lies-in-the-range-of)Suggestive +[The signs form a stable, bounded inventory used consistently across sites and centuries.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3GH42EEP/the-signs-form-a-stable-bounded-inventory-used-consistently)Supported −[No text longer than about seventeen signs on one surface exists, which is unlike any known literate civilisation's remains.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3GRY71Y4/no-text-longer-than-about-seventeen-signs-on-one-surface)Supported [The signs are a non-linguistic symbol system (emblems, clan or office marks, religious symbols) with…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3H0R1SE5/the-signs-are-a-non-linguistic-symbol-system-emblems-clan-or)Disputed +[The texts are short, there are no long inscriptions, and a high proportion of signs occur once, which the authors argue fits emblem systems.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3H8J3FN7/the-texts-are-short-there-are-no-long-inscriptions-and-a)Suggestive +[Statistical measures applied to real non-linguistic systems cannot reliably separate them from writing, so the entropy results do not count against this answer.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3HGC6T4T/statistical-measures-applied-to-real-non-linguistic-systems)Supported −[The positional structure, including terminal signs that behave like grammatical suffixes, is more easily explained by writing.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3HR64E2P/the-positional-structure-including-terminal-signs-that)Suggestive [The signs are proto-writing, a system that records names, titles and commodities by logograms without full…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3J002H5Q/the-signs-are-proto-writing-a-system-that-records-names)Still possible +[The brevity and the seal context are consistent with records of names, titles and ownership.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3J7T7T3P/the-brevity-and-the-seal-context-are-consistent-with-records)Suggestive [If the signs are writing, which language do they record?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3F28487R/if-the-signs-are-writing-which-language-do-they-record)4 findings [The signs record an early Dravidian language.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3JQE1E71/the-signs-record-an-early-dravidian-language)Most likely +[Parpola's rebus method yields readings for several frequent signs that cohere with later Indian iconography.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3JZ870SF/parpolas-rebus-method-yields-readings-for-several-frequent)Suggestive −[No whole text has been read in a way others can verify.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3K7267QG/no-whole-text-has-been-read-in-a-way-others-can-verify)Supported [The signs record an Indo-Aryan language such as early Sanskrit.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3KEW1D3K/the-signs-record-an-indo-aryan-language-such-as-early)Disputed −[Recent Indo-Aryan claims circulated online have been dismissed on the Indology list as repetitions of earlier failed attempts.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3KPP2F3H/recent-indo-aryan-claims-circulated-online-have-been)Suggestive [The signs record a language of another family, or one now extinct, that cannot be identified from texts this…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3KYG46S9/the-signs-record-a-language-of-another-family-or-one-now)Still possible +[The corpus has far less connected material than any deciphered script had when it was read.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3M6A64G8/the-corpus-has-far-less-connected-material-than-any)Supported [Can statistical measures tell whether an unknown symbol system is writing?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3FA22GA4/can-statistical-measures-tell-whether-an-unknown-symbol)4 findings [Conditional and block entropy of sign sequences separate writing from non-linguistic systems, and place the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3MNY6JC5/conditional-and-block-entropy-of-sign-sequences-separate)Disputed +[The Indus corpus's conditional entropy sits with linguistic systems and away from the artificial extremes.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3MXR4DAF/the-indus-corpuss-conditional-entropy-sits-with-linguistic)Suggestive −[The artificial extremes were invented controls, and real non-linguistic systems can show similar values.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3N5J5J76/the-artificial-extremes-were-invented-controls-and-real-non)Supported [Such measures do not discriminate reliably, so the Indus question cannot be settled from the corpus…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3NDC04F9/such-measures-do-not-discriminate-reliably-so-the-indus)Most likely +[Sproat's 2014 comparison across real corpora found the measures do not settle the question.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3NN62TEX/sproats-2014-comparison-across-real-corpora-found-the)Supported −[Rao et al. argue that the measures were meant to be combined with other evidence, not used alone.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3NX05KE2/rao-et-al-argue-that-the-measures-were-meant-to-be-combined)Suggestive [Do the graffiti marks on Tamil Nadu potsherds continue the Indus signs?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/questions/QST0CWY3FHW5MFX/do-the-graffiti-marks-on-tamil-nadu-potsherds-continue-the)1 finding [The Tamil Nadu graffiti marks descend from the Indus signs and show cultural continuity.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/answers/ANS0CWY3PCM0XDF/the-tamil-nadu-graffiti-marks-descend-from-the-indus-signs)Still possible +[A state archaeology database of more than 15,000 potsherds was compiled and the keynote claimed about 60 per cent of Indus signs have matches.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/evidence/EVD0CWY3PME28KB/a-state-archaeology-database-of-more-than-15-000-potsherds)Suggestive ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 6](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/artifacts) Scan2 steps from object [Inscribed steatite seals from Mohenjo-daro](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/artifacts/ART0CWY3RB43NV5/inscribed-steatite-seals-from-mohenjo-daro) Archaeological Survey of India (Marshall 1931, plates volume), scanned by the Digital Library of India · public domain in India; in the US until the end of 2026 Drawing3 steps from object [The Dholavira signboard (ten large signs in gypsum)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/artifacts/ART0CWY3S2J6MVV/the-dholavira-signboard-ten-large-signs-in-gypsum) Siyajkak (Wikimedia Commons) · GFDL Photo1 step from object [Inscribed stamp seal with unicorn (Met 49.40.1)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/artifacts/ART0CWY3ST07234/inscribed-stamp-seal-with-unicorn-met-49-40-1) The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 (Met Open Access) [See all 6 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/indus-script/artifacts) ## See also [ **Pictish symbol stones** About 200 carved stones in northern and eastern Scotland bearing Pictish symbols. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/pictish-symbols) [ **Linear A** The script of Minoan Crete, 1800 to 1450 BC, whose signs can be sounded but not read. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/linear-a) [ **Cypro-Minoan** The undeciphered script of Late Bronze Age Cyprus, used from about 1550 to 1050 BC. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cypro-minoan) [ **Proto-Elamite and Linear Elamite** Two scripts of south-western Iran, 3100 to 1880 BC, one claimed deciphered in 2022. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-elamite) ## References 1. 1.[Parpola, A. 1994. Deciphering the Indus Script. Cambridge University Press.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY36RM4PRY/deciphering-the-indus-script)cited 13 times here**SRC** 0CWY36RM4PRY 1. 2.[Mahadevan, I. 1977. The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables. Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India 77, New Delhi.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY36900NM9/the-indus-script-texts-concordance-and-tables)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0CWY36900NM9 1. 3.[Wells, B. 2011. Epigraphic Approaches to Indus Writing. Oxbow Books, Oxford.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CWY370E687T/epigraphic-approaches-to-indus-writing)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CWY370E687T 1. 4.[Farmer, S., Sproat, R., Witzel, M. 2004. The Collapse of the Indus-Script Thesis: The Myth of a Literate Harappan Civilization. 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