EARLY WRITING

More than 400 symbols have been identified from the 3,000 pieces of

Indus Valley writings that have been discovered. Indus script is the oldest known form of writing in the Indian subcontinent, preserved as carvings in hardened clay. The exact meaning of these symbols remains a mystery, however, as no one has yet been able to translate them.

The earliest examples of this writing were created between 3500 and 2700 BCE. Carved into the surfaces of pottery are singular symbols. Because they aren’t drawn in sequence like thousands of other examples, historians believe this shows the early stages of the Indus script’s development. Later examples include sequences of up to 26 shapes and symbols.