Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Language of ancient Indus found?

The Indus valley civilisation in what is now eastern Pakistan is one of the most ancient known civilisations dating back over 4,500 years but there is no historical information about the civilisation or it's people. That may change if the claims by researchers that they have found the written language of these people are true.

Many artifacts have been found inscribed with symbols which researchers claim are a written language, although others say they are just pictograms. 500 distinct symbols have been found and scientists have used computers to analyse the symbols to try and work out what exactly they are. Statistical regularities have been found in the sequences of symbols which indicates it could be a written language. Work is now ongoing to try and discover syntax and grammar rules. Deciphering the script though, if that is what it is, will be much harder in lieu of anything like the Rosetta Stone.

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