See more images at: http://heritageindiatrust.org/Porunthal.aspx

Porunthal  (77° 28’ 38” E; 10° 22’ 58” N), a tiny village, situated on the foothill of Western Ghat about 12 km southwest Palani lies close to major trade route connecting Madurai, the Pandya capital on the south and Vanji, the celebrated Chera capital on the bank of River Periyar in Thirssur District of Kerala. Famous Roman coin hoard site Kalayamuttur discovered in 1856 lies on the bank of river Porunthilaru, 6 km north of Porunthal village.  It yielded 63 gold coins issued between 8 BC and 193 AD. Similar Roman coin hoards were discovered at Budinattam near Udumalaipettai, Attu Pollachi and at Pollachi on the same west bound trade route. The celebrated Ayiraimalai with goddess Korravai worshipped by the Sangam Age Chera kings lies on this trade route. This Peruvazhi (highway) connecting Kerala and Tamil Nadu served as an important trade route since Early Historic times.

Historically, the village Porunthal was part of the territorial division known as Vaikavur nadu, named after the main village Vaikavur or Aviyur. Other names mentioned about these territorial divisions were Avi-nadu, Vaikavi-nadu, Vaiyavi-naduand Vaiyapuri-nadu, all denoting the same region. The fragmentary inscription dated to 11^th century AD found on the footstep of Marutha-Kali-Amman-Koil mention this village as part of Vaikavi-nadu. Vaikavur was the ancient name of present pilgrimage town Palani. Another name of Palani was Pothini. One of the important clan groups settled in this area wasAviyar kudi. Vel-Avi-k-ko-p-perum-pekan, the famous Vel chieftains, ruled this region. Sangam poets like Kabilan, Van-Paranar, Aricil-Kilar and Perunkunrur-Kilar (Purananuru 143-147) composed in praise of this chieftain. The Sangam literature Akananuru (Akam. 1 and 61) and Purananuru (142) mention this place as Pothini belongs to the Vel chieftain Nedu-Vel-Avi. Further, the place Pothini was noted as a pon-udai-nedu-nagar-pothini meaning the big houses having gold. As per Sangam poem Padirruppattu, another important chieftain Vel-Avi-k-ko-Paduman had matrimonial relations with Cheras who ruled this region with capital at Karur (ancient Vanji) located on the confluence of river Amaravathi with Kaveri. Due to his close relation with Cheras, this chieftain Vel-Avi-k-ko-Paduman had a palace near Vanji.

The famous Jain centre Ayiraimalai lies about 15 km northwest of this site. Jain beds were found in the natural cavern on the eastern side of the hillock. Several Jain sculptures in bas-relief were found at the entrance of the cavern and the inscriptions invatteluttu character clearly point to the fact that this centre was survived as great Jain centre. The Sangam poemPatirruppattu (21, 70, 79) mentioned this place as Ayirai which had the Cheras family deity Goddess Korravai.

Some important trade guild inscriptions issued by the celebrated trade guild Ainurruvar/Tisai-ayirattu-ainurruvar were located about 5 km from Porunthal down the stream at Tamaraikulam and Rajapuram. Tamaraikulam lies on the right bank and Rajapuram lies on the left bank opposite to Tamaraikulam. It is quite interesting to note that both the sites met with trade guild inscriptions suggesting the east-west trade route that would have crossed the river at this point. The inscription issued during the reign of Vijayanagara king Mallikarjunaraya engraved on the north wall of the Subramanya Temple at Palani referred to this trade route as Peruvalzhi that goes to Kolumam (South Indian Inscriptions Vol. 5, No.286).

The village Tamaraikulam, located north of Porunthal village on the right bank of the river Poruthalaru, was known for several archaeological findings. The habitation mound, locally called Tukkottai, yielded several graffiti marks engraved on the shoulder portions of black and red ware, russet coated ware and red ware. Besides, iron furnace, TC pipes, tuyeres, hop scotches, etc., were collected from the disturbed habitation mound covering an area of about 10 acres. Urn burials with skeletal remains were found exposed earlier.

A Tripurantaka bronze image was discovered a decade ago while digging a basement for the construction of a school building. Again, two years later, another Nataraja bronze image was unearthed. Besides, Bairava and Saptamatrika sculptures were found at Sengalu-nir-medu. A trade guild inscription belongs to 1192 AD issued during the 9^th regnal of Parakesari Viracholan, a Kongu Chola, was unearthed in the cultivated field. It refers to the trade guild Ainurruvar. Another inscription found at Rajapuram speaks on an endowment made by the Pathinen-bhumi [tisai-ayirattu-ainurruvar] to the Siva temple.

Keeping potentiality of the region, the entire Amaravathi valley was surveyed as part of Ph.D programme by V.P.Yatheeskumar, Research Scholar of Pondicherry University and nearly 175 archaeological sites were discovered. The site Porunthal was one among them. The habitation mound covering an area of about 5.5 ha. of elevated field locally calledpaci-medu meaning bead mound (paci > bead; medu > mound) lies south of Marutha-kali-amman-koil. In support of this name, innumerable beads made of glass and paste were collected on the surface. The occurrence of fragments of tuyeres, slag and furnace materials on the surface clearly suggested that the site might have survived as bead manufacturing centre for a longer period of time. Iron Age grave yard, consist of stone circles entombing cist/urn burial numbering around 50, was noticed at the foothill near the present hamlets Chinnagandhipuram, Kavalapatti and Puliyampatti. Dolmen sites were located at Periyaduraikombai and Salpulparai. Black and Red ware, Red ware and Black ware were collected from 2 m deposit.

The availability of early historical vestiges in and around Porunthal like coin hoards, trade guild inscriptions, graffiti marks and brick structures, was instrumental for selecting the site for excavations. Prof. K.Rajan, Head, Department of History, Pondicherry University initiated the excavation programme with generous financial support of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil and Archaeological Survey of India. Such excavation programme is undertaken for the first time in Pondicherry University under the direction of Vice Chancellor Prof.J.A.K.Tareen.

Three trenches were laid in the bead mound to identify various technological aspects of glass making. Three floor levels were identified in 1.5 m cultural deposit dating between 1^st century AD and 3^rd century AD. There are nearly 2000 glass beads of various sizes and colours collected from 50 sq.m digging area. The 50 sq.m amounts to 0.25 % of the total bead mound.  If one exposes the entire mound of 5.5 ha. area, one may encounter with minimum of a million beads. These too are the refuses left by our ancestors as the best ones were being used or sold.

Luckily, the team encountered with a glass polishing furnace in one of the trenches. The ashy material collected from the furnace alone yielded 60 beads. Quite interestingly, more than twenty identical red ware bowls with short base and wide mouth noticed near the furnace along with triangular terracotta pieces. The edges of the terracotta pieces were smoothened due to constant rubbing. Prof. P.Shanmugam, former Professor of Archaeology, University of Madras felt that these symmetrical bowls and the triangular terracotta pieces made out of pottery might have been used for polishing the glass beads. The non-availability of long tubular specimens near to the furnace and the availability of cut-pieces (beads) suggest that there would have been some more furnaces where one could expect the first stage of glass bead making. There are several hundreds of paste beads lying on the northern part of the mound with glass slag.

The excavations revealed two phases of glass bead making. In the later phase of the industrial activity, most of the beads, nearly 90%, are paste beads. In the early phase, green glass beads were predominate. Such green beads meant for export to Roman world during early historic times collected in recent excavations at Pattanam, the ancient Muciri port of Cheras, said Dr.P.J.Cherian, Director, Kerala Council of Historical Research on his visit to the site. This industrial site needs to be fixed in wider trade net-work keeping in view of its closeness to  ancient trade route. Prof. Y.Subbarayalu, Head, Department of Indology, French Institute of Pondicherry who studied extensively on trade guild inscriptions of this area expressed the view that this region should be seen in the back drop of continuous commercial activity witnessed along this route during medieval times. Dr.S.Rajavelu, Assistant Superintending Epigraphist of Archaeological Survey of India, further explores this area and copied such trade guild inscriptions at Kothaimangalam and Karaiyur.

The second trench dug on the western side of the trench yielding furnace had ashy material suggesting greater industrial activity. This trench yielded more than 1000 glass beads. More than ten red ware bowls placed in a row near the furnace also noticed in this trench. The other important antiquities recovered from this single cultural deposit were ivory dice, terracotta ear lopes, ear rings, games men and hop scotches. Other important antiquities to be noted were a male figurine and a humped bull, all made of Terracotta. The well-modelled male figure with prominent human facial feature made out of pinching method has elongated body, broad shoulder and short legs, all suggestive of archaic figure generally dated to 1^st century AD. Such unique terracotta figurines were not reported elsewhere in Tamil Nadu. Near to these figurines, a square Sangam Age copper coin was also recovered. Since it is in bad state of preservation, symbols on the coin yet to be identified. Besides, a celt was recovered near the floor of the second trench.

A brick wall with width of 90 cm, probably corner of a building, unearthed in the third trench laid in the southern fringe of the mound had four courses of brick built by using English bond method. Two sizes of brick were exposed measuring 7x21x42 cm and 8x24x48 cm, all in the ratio of 1:3:6 showing the technological skill of the early historic people. The binding material used in the structure was clay. Dr.D.Dayalan, Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India expressed such brick structures were generally found in the urban centres, port towns and capital cities of early historic times like Kaveripattinam, Uraiyur, Pattanam and Arikamedu. The present Porunthal evidence reflects its commercial nature.

Prof.K.Nachimuthu, Tamil Chair, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi opined in the back-drop of Sangam literature, this region has a unique place in early historic times. Sangam Age chieftains like Pekan and Kumanan hold sway over this region under the celebrated Cheras. Their territorial holding pattern also goes along the trade route, which suggests that these chieftains would have also played a considerable role in the flourishing trade net-work. The Sangam Age poet Porunthil Ilang-Kiranar who hails from this village Porunthil composed poem in honour of Mantharal-Cheral-Irumporai is suggestive of the literary activity of those times (Akananuru 19, 351and Purananuru 53).

A Note on a Grave

Several burials belonging to Iron Age as well as Early Historic phase were noticed 2 km west of the site near the foothill. They were of cist burials, both of simple and transepted variety. One of the graves having a diameter of 12.50 m was opened. The cist with passage was meticulously placed at the centre of the stone circle made of huge boulders. The cist was divided into two parts resulting with southern and northern chambers. The dividing transept slab also had a porthole. The southern chamber yielded four-legged jars and pots of red polished ware, bowl of black and red ware and plates of black slipped ware. These were placed on a bench like floor slab at the front porthole level. More than 3000 beads made of steatite, etched and plain carnelian, agate and quartz were recovered at this level. These grave goods were placed close to skeletal remains. These cultural items were placed on a slab suggesting a kind of ritual taken place at this point. The northern chamber yielded grave goods consist of four legged jars and pots of red slipped ware, conical black and red ware vase, black slipped ring stand and black and red ware pots. These pots placed one upon the other. On the floor slab, several ring stands made of black slipped as well as red slipped ware were found.

Interestingly, one ring stand of a red slipped ware was placed almost at the centre of the northern chamber. Around this ring stand, 22 etched carnelian beads were placed like a garland. Inside the ring stand, five more beads were also noticed. On the exterior surface of the ring stand, four symbols were engraved. The first three symbols look like a Tamil-Brahmi script and the fourth one is definitely a graffiti mark. The first three symbols are relatively smaller in size when compared with the fourth symbol (graffiti mark). Like fourth symbol, several identical graffiti marks were found in almost all the pots placed as grave goods. This graffiti mark also engraved on the ring stand on its opposite side. But the first three Tamil-Brahmi like symbols were found only on the ring stand. If we consider these group of symbols as graffiti then the grave may be placed in Iron Age and if we consider the symbols as Tamil-Brahmi script then the grave could be dated to early historic times. Keeping the historical importance of these symbols, opinion is sought from leading epigraphists of this country. Sri.Iravatahm Mahadevan clearly identifies the first three symbols as Tamil-Brahmi script and read it as va-yi-ra. Iravatahm Mahadevan is dated to 1^stcentury AD. Dr.S.Rajavelu of Archaeological Survey of India and Dr.V.Vedachalam also agrees with Sri.Iravatham Mahadevan. Prof.Y.Subbarayalu, Head, Dept. of Indology, had some reservation and he feels that it is likely to be graffiti marks and it needs close examination. Prof.P.Shanmugam of Madras University and Dr.S.Rajagopal goes along with the opinion of Prof.Y.Subbarayalu. Such examples having a pot engraved Tamil-Brahmi script reading visaki unearthed earlier in a grave at Kodumanal.

Besides, a pair of stirrup was placed close to this ring stand. Around the stirrup, thousands of steatite beads were placed. In total, this grave alone was yielded about 7500 beads of steatite, carnelian, quartz and agate along with iron swords, arrow heads and several pots like ring stands, bowls, plates, dishes, bowls, legged jars and vases. These were the highest number of beads so far collected from any grave of Tamil Nadu.  Another important finding was of paddy placed as grave good in one of the biggest 90 cm high four legged jars. Such huge quantity of well preserved paddy nearly 2 kg was collected first time in the grave. The occurrence of paddy in a grave of 2000 years old reflects their agricultural potentiality. The richness of the grave goods, size of the chamber, the high level of rituals performed and occurrence of the unique script, paddy and stirrup points to the greatness of the man who buried in the grave. Skeletal remains also collected from the grave. In all probability, as rightly pointed out by Prof.Y.Subbarayalu, this grave would have been meant for a chieftain or a clan leader.

Several scholars who visited during excavations appreciated the collective will and dedication of the students from various universities like Mangalore University, Sri Venkateswara University, Tamil University and Pondicherry University. Such participation helps to enhance the human resource in this field. During excavations, students have been exposed to different scientific aspects of archaeological research such as excavations methods, surveying, geology, plant science, GIS and epigraphy by scholars like Dr.Anupama, Mr.S.Prasad and Sri.Muthu Shankar of French Institute of Pondicherry, Dr.V.Subramaniam, Reader in Geology, National College, Trichy, Senior Epigraphists Dr.R.Poongundran, Dr.V.Vedachalam and Senior Archaeologists Dr.C.Santhalingam and Dr.T.Subramanian.

http://heritageindiatrust.org/Porunthal.aspx

U-Pb zircon dating evidence for a Pleistocene Sarasvati River and capture of the Yamuna River

Should divinities worshipped in temples be subjected to such 'art' appraisals by 'art critics'?

The rise of a global icon

The HinduChola Bronze -Tiruvalangadu Nataraja Madras Government Museum displayed during the celebration of thousand years of the big temple at Thanjavur. Photo: D. Krishnan

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How did Nataraja become an icon representing the Indian genius for sculpture? It all began in a small village near Madras just over a century ago.

With a leg up, arms across and framed within an aureole of flame, the iconography of Nataraja, cast in bronze, is possibly the ubiquitous example of Indian art. It has gone beyond the secluded portals of temples and museums to reach living rooms, corporate lobbies and up-market lounges the world over. To the many admirers, this form of the dancing Siva, with its “sleek grace and calm agility”, is the “summation of Indian genius”.

Though Nataraja has existed in this form for more than a thousand years, its ascent to ubiquity and fame is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Interestingly, Binfield Havell, an art historian (who was a columnist for The Hindu), who was the first to spotlight it. A 114.5-cm bronze icon of Nataraja, discovered 106 years ago, that was in the Madras (now Chennai) Government Museum, was at the centre of it all.

Quiet beginnings

The story had a quiet beginning. In July 1905, K.V. Subramania Ayyar, a Tamil Assistant in Madras with the Archaeological Survey, visited Tiruvalangadu, further west, to recover two ancient copper plates from a temple. His abilities of persuasion got him not two, but 31 copper plates. He also managed to get a number of metal images, which the temple officials had found in an underground chamber. Not realising their importance, the Archaeological Survey, in its annual report to the government, recommended a routine acquisition of the images. Thus, in 1907, the Tiruvalangadu Nataraja and the other metal images reached the Madras Museum.

While the copper plates captured immediate attention and caused a sensation among archaeologists, the metal images got a less significant level of recognition in the Museum. Little did the authorities then know that events developing in the Western art world would soon centrestage that bronze icon.

In the early part of the 20th century, influential orientalists hardly reckoned Indian sculpture to be art. In the words of Vincent Smith, “the figures both of men and animals [in Indian sculptures] become stiff and formal, and the idea of power is clumsily expressed by the multiplication of members.” Even the official handbook to the Indian section of the Victoria and Albert Museum derided them. Indian sculptures, to the prejudiced eye, were ‘puerile and detestable'.

But a group of people, including Havell, Ananda Coomaraswamy and William Rothenstein, took it upon themselves to challenge these opinions.

Havell, who worked in the Madras and Calcutta colleges of art for many years, was one the earliest to argue for the artistic merits of Indian art. He denounced critics who reluctantly accepted Buddhist sculptures as poor versions of Greek and Roman art, and presented exalted examples of Indian art. In 1908, he put together his arguments and illustrated them in one his important books, Indian Sculpture and Painting. The bronze sculpture of Nataraja, acquired by the Madras Museum in 1872 from Velankanni, found a prominent place in it.

However, Havell recalibrated his assessment when photos of the Tiruvalangadu bronze reached him. Though both the Nataraja icons were identical, he was clear about which one was preferred. “There is a great difference in the feeling which animates the two,” he wrote in favour of the Tiruvalangadu Nataraja. He declared that the ‘gaiety' of this ‘delightful bronze' was ‘the perfect art' and that it was superior to the ‘trivial' sculpture of Gandhara, which was held in high esteem then. Havell published the photographs of the Tiruvalangadu bronze for the first time in 1911 in his book, The Ideals of Indian Art.

Around that time, Coomaraswamy, the art theorist, also took on critics who dubbed Indian sculptures with many arms and heads as ‘hideous'. In an important essay published in 1913, he demonstrated that multiple limbs helped stage a ‘sculpture drama', and exhibited ‘the wonderful creative energy of the Indian genius'. He made this point first by using the ‘profoundly expressive' figure of Durga, and followed it up with the ‘perfectly balanced' Tiruvalangadu bronze. When Coomaraswamy reworked this essay in 1918, the Tiruvalangadu Nataraja moved up the list of examples.

Crucial role

Coomaraswamy's seminal work, titled The Dance of Siva, played an important role in popularising Nataraja. This much-cited essay ‘decoded' the art and made the meaning accessible to many. However, it did not receive much notice when first published in 1912, in a Saiva Siddantha journal without any illustration. But its reprint in 1918, as part of a book under the same name by a New York publisher, reached audiences across the world. Coomaraswamy used the photograph of the Tiruvalangadu bronze as the frontispiece.

Havell and others pointed to the merits of Indian art, but their reputation as ‘friends of Indian art' came in the way of some critics accepting their assessment. However, finally, doubts about the significance of Indian sculptures came to rest in 1921.

Auguste Rodin, considered the ‘father of modern sculpture', was widely respected for his works such as ‘Thinker' (1904). When the photographs of the Tiruvalangadu and Velankanni bronzes reached him, probably given by Rothenstein or Victor Goloubew, a French art enthusiast and photographer who had lived in Pondicherry for a short time, the plastic quality of the sculptures captivated Rodin. In the elegance of these bronzes, he found ‘grace' and ‘above the grace' he admired their ‘ modeling'. Nataraja sculptures were the ‘perfect expression of rhythmic movement in the world', he waxed eloquent. These comments, coming as they did from a revered sculptor, created a stir and led to the instant popularity of the Nataraja form.

Rodin wrote his essay on the dancing Siva (in French) a couple of years before he died in 1917, but it was posthumously published in 1921. The same year, the English translation of the article appeared in the Indian art journal Rupam. Though images of the Velankanni and Tiruvalangadu bronzes accompanied Rodin's essay, there was little doubt about which among the two had created an impact.

Opinions on Indian art, as Havell himself remarked, changed in the later part of 1920s. Images of the Tiruvalangadu Nataraja began to appear regularly in essays and books. For example, Stella Kramrisch, an authority on Indian art, in 1922 used the sculpture as an illustration with her article on space in Indian sculpture. Havell, too, in 1928, when he rewrote his book, Indian Sculpture and Painting, chose to print the Tiruvalangadu bronze instead of the Velankanni one. Almost at the same time, Rabindranath Tagore, who was friends with Havell, Coomaraswamy and Rothenstien, composed a play titled Nataraja: Ritu-rangashala (Nataraja : A Theatre of Seasons). It was more than a coincidence that the practice of displaying Nataraja sculpture in the stage during Bharatanatyam dance performances as studies show commenced only after 1930.

Enduring spell

The spell of Nataraja was well cast and the process of ‘grooming' the image was complete. Museums across the world could not help but compare their own bronzes with the “famous example in the Madras Museum”. Cleveland museum, for instance, in 1930, took pride that its own Nataraja “fails by only three and a half centimetres” when compared with the Madras icon. Newspapers, as The Hindu did in 1941, featured the Tiruvalangadu bronze as one of the world's most delightful bronzes. The Indian postal department was not far behind. When it decided to publish a definitive series of 16 stamps focusing on Indian heritage in 1949, the Tiruvalangadu icon was a natural choice.

In many ways, the exhaustive account given in 1974 of Nataraja in art and literature by C. Sivaramamurti, the reputed art historian, firmed up the significance of this sculptural form and summed up its renown. In Sivaramamurti's list, too, the Tiruvalangadu bronze found a special place. After analysing hundreds of sculptures, he concluded that it was “the best known image of its kind in any public museum”. The journey came a full circle in 1992 when the Madras museum published a brief catalogue of its select bronzes. The Velankanni bronze was left out, but Tiruvalangadu Nataraja adorned the cover, and prominently included in the catalogue.

The sculpture of Nataraja continues to be reinvented. Its cosmic symbolism now has a new-age interpretation, and this has helped it circulate further. In 2004, the icon of the dancing Siva reached the lawns of the CERN building in Geneva, where the search for the ‘God particle' is now under way.

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article2856844.ece

 

photo credit: Giovanni Chierico Shiva's Cosmic Dance at CERN On June 18, 2004, an unusual new landmark was unveiled at CERN, the European Center for Research in Particle Physics in Geneva — a 2m tall statue of the Indian deity Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. The statue, symbolizing Shiva's cosmic dance of creation and destruction, was given to CERN by the Indian government to celebrate the research center's long association with India. In choosing the image of Shiva Nataraja, the Indian government acknowledged the profound significance of the metaphor of Shiva's dance for the cosmic dance of subatomic particles, which is observed and analyzed by CERN's physicists. The parallel between Shiva's dance and the dance of subatomic particles was first discussed by Fritjof Capra in an article titled "The Dance of Shiva: The Hindu View of Matter in the Light of Modern Physics," published in Main Currents in Modern Thought in 1972. Shiva's cosmic dance then became a central metaphor in Capra's international bestseller The Tao of Physics, first published in 1975 and still in print in over 40 editions around the world. A special plaque next to the Shiva statue at CERN explains the significance of the metaphor of Shiva's cosmic dance with several quotations from The Tao of Physics. Here is the text of the plaque: Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, seeing beyond the unsurpassed rhythm, beauty, power and grace of the Nataraja, once wrote of it "It is the clearest image of the activity of God which any art or religion can boast of." More recently, Fritjof Capra explained that "Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and death of all living creatures, but is also the very essence of inorganic matter," and that "For the modern physicists, then, Shiva's dance is the dance of subatomic matter." It is indeed as Capra concluded: "Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics."

Indus Script: A Study of its Sign Design

 

Nisha Yadav

Mayank Vahia

One of the largest unicorn seals, found at Harappa in 1999.

A recent essay on the structural design of signs in the Indus script by experts at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Abstract

The Indus script is an undeciphered script of the ancient world. In spite of numerous attempts over several decades, the script has defied universally acceptable decipherment. In a recent series of papers (Yadav et al. 2010; Rao et al. 2009a, b; Yadav et al. 2008a, b) we have analysed the sequences of Indus signs which demonstrate presence of a rich syntax and logic in its structure. Here we focus on the structural design of individual signs of the Indus script. Our study is based on the sign list given in the concordance of Mahadevan (1977) which consists of 417 distinct signs. We analyse the structure of all signs in the sign list of Indus script and visually identify three types of design elements of Indus signs namely basic signs, provisional basic signs and modifiers. These elements combine in a variety of ways to generate the entire set of Indus signs. By comparing the environment of compound signs with all possible sequences of constituent basic signs, we show that sign compounding (ligaturing) and sign modification seem to change the meaning or add value to basic signs rather than save writing space. The study aims to provide an understanding of the general makeup and mechanics of design of Indus signs.

First published in Scripta, Volume 3, June 2011

 Download Indus Script: A Study of its Sign Design

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http://a.harappa.com/content/indus-script-study-its-sign-design

LANDSCAPE, WATER AND RELIGION IN ANCIENT INDIA

• The Sanchi Dams Project
• Mapping Settlements, Dams and Monasteries in Central India

The Sanchi Dams Project

Masonry face of the Sanchi dam

Relevant Publications

• Shaw, J. (2004) 'Naga sculptures in Sanchi's archaeological landscape: Buddhism, Vaisnavism and local agricultural cults in central India , first century BCE to fifth century CE', Artibus Asiae LXIV(1), 5-59.
• Shaw, J. (2004). 'Early historic landscapes in central India : recent archaeological investigations in districts Raisen and Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, 2003-4', Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in History and Archaeology 1, 143-150.
• Shaw, J. and J.V. Sutcliffe (2001) 'Ancient irrigation works in the Sanchi area: an archaeological and hydrological investigation', South Asian Studies 17, 55-75.
• Ibid. (2003). 'Ancient dams, settlement archaeology and Buddhist propagation in central India : the hydrological background', Hydrological Sciences Journal 48(2), 277-291.
• Ibid. (2003). 'Water management, patronage networks and religious change: new evidence from the Sanchi dam complex and counterparts in Gujarat and Sri Lanka ', South Asian Studies 19, 73-104.
• Ibid. (2005) 'Ancient dams and Buddhist sites in the Sanchi area: new evidence on irrigation, land use, and patronage in central India ', South Asian Studies 21, in press.

General view of recently-reconstructed dam at Chandna

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/research/directory/water_shaw

SANCHI SURVEY PROJECT