pseudochariot - pseudo-trough

[Steve Farmer]

I wrote:

>Sorry about mentioning "Polish jokes" in the same line as
"Rajaram horse
> jokes,"
>How un-PC of me!

Artur Karp wrote:

> Yes, such things come from using a Mac.

Thanks for giving me a convenient out for my political faux pas.
I *am* using a Mac!

Beyond jokes:

> To say that the concept of chariots in the ICiv. is totally anachronic is
> one thing. But to say that to ultimately prove the presence of chariots in
> the ICiv., the signs in question should realistically represent chariot
> wheels is something else again. Faced with this kind of demand, I would
> still insist that diagrammatic representations (such as pictorial signs)
> do not have to show all the details possessed by the original object.
> More - that such representations are allowed to distort the original
> object's shape.

I *have* frequently said that the concept was anachronistic. But
I also disagree with your new point.  When someone (Sethna, not
you) does try to "prove the presence of chariots" in the Indus
Valley, and his *only* evidence consists in Harappan signs, he
better show us the elliptical and pointy signs with
cross-hatching on them -- and not draw round "wheels" when the
originals clearly aren't round.

> Which doesn't make me a follower of Hindutvavadins. Or, for God's sake,
> a supporter of Mr. Sethna's views.

Fully understood!

Regards,
Steve Farmer