Rao on Indus Valley Inscriptions

Rajesh Rao on the challenge of deciphering the 4000-year-old inscriptions of the Indus Valley Civilization, including whether they represent a linguistic script or a non-linguistic symbol system. Using computational approaches, he suggests that the inscriptions represent a language, possibly a forerunner to the Dravidian languages (for a refutation, see this; more food for thought in the comments section of this post).

Comments

[astrokid.nj]

incredible.. I have often wondered how one can decipher a writing system when the spoken language it represents is not known anymore.
In fact, Ashoka's edicts were supposed to have been written in Brahmi script and the spoken language was Magadhi. I wondered how the Asiatic Society Brit who deciphered it figured it out, without knowing the spoken language.. I guess I have to read more to figure it out :-)

[Jagadish]

astrokid.nj - There was a pillar with greek, aramaic and pali on a pillar. They already knew greek.