The review article about history Braahmii

[Vidhyanath K. Rao]

I scanned through the review article about Brahmi. I did not notice
any reference to the `recent' finds of potsherds from Sri Lanka which
are supposed to marked with Brahmi letters. Due to limited library
facilities, I do not have access to the primary literature. My only
reference is ``Archaeology of Early Historic India'' by Allchin et al.
On pp 176--177, there is a reference to these potsherds. 
Radiocarbon dating is said to put these in the period of 450BCE--350BCE,
with the original excavator dating them to 600BCE--500BCE, presumably
on archaeological grounds.

Elsewhere (p.165), it is said that the `radiometric determination' is
`unclear'. I wonder if further research has thrown any doubt on the
dates quoted in the book. If not, these finds raise serious questions
about the theory that Brahmi writing was invented during Maurya times.
 
-Nath
Nath Rao (nathrao+ at osu.edu)		614-366-9341