An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c25.s4.6

v1.c25.s4.6

The Indus signs generally occur as continuously written texts of inscriptions, the number of signs varying, in a single line, between two and 14; in some cases signs have been used singly. The maximum number of signs used in a single text is 17 though according to Mahadevan it is 26 (Mahadevan, 1977, pp. 9, 56, 82). The maximum number of lines on one side of an inscribed object is three. In one case, if the lines inscribed on each face of the objects are taken to be the text of the same inscription, the maximum number of lines is seven. The lines, on a single face of an object, are generally one below the other, though there are some spceimens where lines are engraved on the sides of seals or the signs are distributed on the face of the seals in the space available after the central figure has been drawn.