Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s18.t4: 5.18.4 Cave symbols and signs of the Indus script
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s18.t4
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5.18.4 Cave symbols and signs of the Indus script
c25.s18.t4.1
In the preceding discussion, attention has been drawn to the occurrence of the cave symbols in the graffiti on megalithic pottery. There is also a remarkable resemblance between these cave symbols and signs of the Indus script (Table 5.² and Fig. 5.15).
c25.s18.t4.2
² K.V. Raman (ed.) 1988: chapter 5 and Fig. 25 at p. 76.
c25.s18.t4.3
Lal has demonstrated that many symbols are common to the megalithic pottery on the one hand, and to the Harappan and chalcolithic on the other. He suggested that the commonness of the symbols was perhaps due to the commonness of ideas between cultures but refrained from suggesting any phonetic values for the symbols.¹⁰ While there are close similarities between some of the megalithic symbols and the signs of the Indus script, they are more likely to share similar significance but not necessarily the same phonetic values, considering the enormous time and distance separating them.
c25.s18.t4.4
¹⁰ B.B. Lal 1960: pp. 4-24. See especially his comments on symbol No. 47 illustrated by him with parallels from the megalithic and Indus graffiti. I. Mahadevan 2001: pp. 379-385 (drawing attention to the Indus-like graffiti on the megalithic pottery from Sulur).
c25.s18.t4.5
| Cave Symbols (Fig. 5.11) | Signs of the Indus Script (Fig. 5.15) | |
| | I. Mahadevan 1977 | Asko Parpola 1994 |
| A | 53 & 54 (variant) | 88 e and 88 a |
| B | 245 (variant) | 268 † |
| C | 162 (variant) | 91 m |
| D | 307 | 187 b |
c25.s18.t4.6
† Koskenniemi & Parpola 1982 (from Text No. 1424).
c25.s18.t4.7
Table 5.². Cave symbols resembling Signs of the Indus script.