Indus script

[George Hart]

Michael --

It seems to me that there is not enough IV "writing" to hope to  
decipher it -- if in fact it is writing.  One possibility is that it a  
system of symbols that nonetheless contains linguistic components.   
For example, my name is "Hart," so if I were to design a family  
device, I'd probably put a heart in it -- or perhaps a deer.  In fact,  
my father did put hearts on the shutters of the house we used to own.   
So the fact that it may simply be symbols does not necessarily mean  
that "six fish" doesn't mean Dravidian *caaRu *miin, "six stars,"  
"pleiades," as that might have been a component of someone's name or  
have something to do with an ancestor's occupation (astrologer?).  In  
any event, without longer "texts" -- which may or may not have ever  
existed -- I don't see how we can know.  George

On Apr 27, 2009, at 6:56 AM, Michael Witzel wrote:

> George,
>
> the "rhetoric" is due to the fact that the archaeologists etc.  
> involved have spent much of their lives and careers(!) on this topic.
>
> A scientific theory should be just that -- and should be objected to  
> stringent counterchecks and falsification.
>
> Another important point is that many cannot imagine a highly  
> developed civilization as existing without a script that represents  
> spoken language (such as sentences).
>
> Well, what about the Inca/Moche etc., or Mexican Highland ones? Or  
> closer to home, the Bactria-Margiana (Oxus) and E. Iranian Jiroft  
> ones?  I still have to meet someone to deny "high status" to the  
> Inca civilization.
>
> In short: built in, pathway dependent views of the 20th century.
>
> Cheers!
> Michael
>
> PS> About shooting: even that has been threatened, not just  
> shouting...
>
> On Apr 27, 2009, at 9:34 AM, George Hart wrote:
>
>> I can't help calling to mind the Beale treasure:
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beale_ciphers
>>
>> I had a great uncle who spent his entire life searching for this  
>> treasure.  He once hypnotized someone who claimed he could see the  
>> treasure under a tree.  He tried to dig it up (fruitlessly), and  
>> later learned the landowner almost shot him thinking he was a  
>> thief.  Fortunately, people searching for the key to the IV  
>> symbols? script? writing? are not likely to be shot, though some of  
>> the rhetoric makes me wonder.  George Hart
>>
>> On Apr 27, 2009, at 6:13 AM, Patricia Greer wrote:
>>
>>> A day before this topic hit our list, I received an e-mail  
>>> alerting me to an
>>> article in a British newspaper about Rao's tremendous "breakthrough"
>>> announced in Science -- the e-mail was from the Arya Samaj!  I  
>>> have no idea
>>> how they got my academic address.
>>>
>>> Patricia Greer
>
> ============
> Michael Witzel
> witzel at fas.harvard.edu
> <www.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm>
>
> Dept. of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University
> 1 Bow Street,
> Cambridge MA 02138, USA
>
> phone: 1- 617 - 495 3295 (voice & messages), 496 8570, fax 617 - 496  
> 8571;
> my direct line:  617- 496 2990