The Indus Age

Description

"This volume, Indus Age: The Beginnings, sets the stage for the Mature Harappan Civilization, Part One presents the theory and philosophy of the series, as well as some definitional and technical information, such as radiocarbon dates, and comments on physical anthropology. This is followed by the story of the discovery of the Harappan Civilization.". "Part Two starts in the early nineteenth century when the city of Harappa was visited by antiquarians with no knowledge of the older history of Pakistan or India." "Part Three is a detailed discussion of cultural geography, which offers a regional perspective on the Greater Indus area using the concept of a "Domain."". "Part Four is a culture history of the peoples of the Indus Age from the beginnings of food production and domestication of plants and animals to the threshold of civilization in the region."--BOOK JACKET.

Description

This is a book about the undeciphered writing system of the Indus Civilization. Their pictographic script was invented by the people of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, and over a thousand other known settlements, in Pakistan and northwestern India. It was in use for about 600 years, 2500-1900 BC. Many attempts have been made to decipher this writing system. All of them have to be judged to be failures, at least in so far as can be proved by independent tests. This book is not another attempt at decipherment. It is an in-depth survey of the nature of Indus writing and a comprehensive review of the most prominent decipherment efforts. The book ends with a discussion of the progress that has been made at decipherment, with some thoughts on the direction that future research should take.

Subjects

Other Editions

• The Indus Age: The Writing SystemHardcoverUniversity of Pennsylvania Press1997-01-01
• The Indus Age.University of Pennsylvania Press1996-01-01
• Indus Age.University of Pennsylvania Press1999-01-01