Epigraphic Approaches to Indus Writing is a comprehensive look at one of the last undeciphered Old World scripts. It has defied decipherment for 90 years because of the terse nature of the texts and the lack of a comprehensive corpus and detailed sign list. This book presents the analysis of a comprehensive, computer-based corpus using the most detailed sign list yet compiled for the Indus script. Custom computer programs allowed the verification of the sign list and the compilation of statistics regarding sign distribution and use. Among the questions addressed are: How do you create an epigraphic database? How do you define a sign? What is the Indus number system like? Where did the Indus script come from? and What is the Indus language(s)? Bryan Wells is an archaeologist, epigrapher, and geographer who has excavated on the west and east coasts of North America and in Baluchistan (Pakistan). Wells has studied the Indus script since 1992, and holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University.

This dissertation reflects the following five research goals: (1) to create a database of all published inscribed Indus artifacts (Electronic Corpus of Indus Texts or ECIT); (2) to create an interactive computer program to aid in the analysis of the texts (Interactive Concordance of Indus Texts or ICIT); (3) to create a comprehensive sign list for the Indus script; (4) to analyze the Indus texts in order to discover their structures and patterns of sign use; (5) to determine as closely as possible the identity of the Indus Language. The ECIT database lists 5643 artifacts with Indus texts and/or iconography. As far as possible each record gives the details (size, find spot, material, design etc.) and photographs for every item. From the ECIT 3835 artifacts with at least one recognizable Indus sign were transferred to the ICIT. These texts are the basis of the analysis found in this dissertation, especially for the sign list (Chapter 3 and Appendix I). Counts for each sign by site, artifact type, and associated iconography were generated using the ICIT program (v1.59). A subset of the ICIT containing only the complete texts were used for the initial, medial and terminal counts. The structural analysis revealed that the Indus texts may have a Verb initial syntax and that word construction proceeded using a variety of prefixes, infixes and affixes. The morphological patterns do not match those of either Indo-Aryan or Proto-Dravidian. Proto- or Para-Munda could not be ruled out, but could not be verified. Language X still remains a possibility. Two tests of possible decipherments are offered in the final pages.

A detailed examination of the Indus script. It presents new analysis based on an expansive text corpus using revolutionary analytical techniques developed specifically for the purpose of deciphering the Indus script.

Since the discovery of the Indus Civilization, the meaning of the enigmatic Indus script remains hidden in its four hundred characters. While many would-be-decipherers have attempted to unravel its meaning with the aid of a presumed underlying language, none of these attempts has proven successful. In response, the approach taken in this work does not preclude an underlying language, but offers an alternate approach where the positional patterns of the Indus signs are investigated in an attempt to segment the character strings. Michael Korvink is a former instructor of International Studies at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and now works in the private sector.

A description of a methodology by which to decipher the writing of the Harappan civilization. The methodology is then applied and the results set forth in detail. There, results coupled with the author's extensive archaeological knowledge of the Indus Civilization creates a picture of ancient South Asian life much of which in content is unique.