Indus Valley Civilization, geometrical knowledge

[Yaroslav Vassilkov]

G.F.Dales in his article "Sex and Stone at Mohenjo-Daro (Frontiers of
the Indus Civilization. Ed. by B.B.Lal and S.P.Gupta. Sir Mortimer
Wheeler Commemoration Volume. New Delhi, 1984, pp. 109-115)
reconsidered traditional interpretation of some specific stone
artefacts as symbols of lingam and yoni. In Dales's opinion there
are no grounds for this "erotic symbolism" interpretation. Instead he referred
to the hypothesis by M.Jansen who had suggested that the stone
rings might have been used in measuring angles and making astronomical
calculations.
        Unfortunately, I have not the book with me anymore and can not check
if there are any direct references to M.Jansen's works.
        Hope it may be of use.
        All the best

                                        Yaroslav Vassilkov


Thu, 20 Jul 100 18:30 +0300 MSK Toke Lindegaard Knudsen wrote to INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK:

> [I am cross-posting this letter both to the Indology list and the Math
> History list -- I apologise if someone receive this twice.]
>
> Dear list members,
>
> In 1978 Dr. R. P. Kulkarni published an article where he examined
> the geometrical knowledge available to the ancient people of the
> Indus Valley civilization (Indian Journal of History of Science, Vol.
> 13, pp. 117-124).  It was later later reprinted as a chapter in his
> book "Geometry According to Sulba Sutra" (Pune: Vaidika
> Samsodhana Mandala, 1983).  Based on the works of Mackay and
> Marshall Dr. Kulkarni presents a list of geometrical propositions
> that the Indus Valley people must have known.
>
> This is the only work of this type that I am aware of.  Is anyone
> aware of other works of this type, i.e. studies of the level of
> mathematical knowledge available in the Indus Valley civilization?
> Any comments would be appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
> Toke Lindegaard Knudsen
>
---
Yaroslav Vassilkov (yavass at YV1041.spb.edu)
Institute of Oriental Studies
Fri, 21 Jul 100 22:47 +0300 MSK