Even if a small linguistic component is added rebus principle or punning (Witzel,Kyoto 2009 or Sproat in his presentations) or acriphony is used, it qualifies for full literacy. I assume some 'sound coding' would have been useful to them. The longest seal is 17 characters non-analomous and 26 characters analomous. I have never said that what Farmer is saying is necessarily fully wrong, but even Parpola has been reading them mostly as logograms with a linguistic component. So how much of what Farmer is saying is new apart from the fact that he popularized the idea? These men have been saying almost the same thing and fighting with each other? Till 2900 BC Egypt and Mesopotamia were considered proto-literate even if their texts are shorter(not non-literate!!!!). The first full sentence in Egypt dates only to 2890 BC - even if they want to argue that there is a difference between the Proto-writing and symbol systems , one can argue that the Indus system was perhaps more expressive than Egyptian proto-literate- because conditional entropy, order of signs, combinations probably did play a major role in conveying meaning in the Indus script (Korvink). Can we then conclude that the Harappan system had more communication power than other symbol systems and some proto-writing ???? Vinca symols are much, much simpler- 85% of signs occur in isolation- even that is considered proto-writing. Terminologies pertaining to literacy cannot be changed unless all scholars agree and any demands to change terminology must be met with suspicion, naturally. Only a very small portion of the IVC has been excavated, you know, 5% maybe! Even Farmer agrees "Judging from modern examples and research in the linguistic history of South Asia, the Indus Valley was probably intensely multi linguistic throughout its history. This may have provided the Indus emblem system with an advantage over ordinary writing as a means of providing the civilization with social cohesion. The fact that the majority of inscriptions rely on a surprisingly small core of symbols suggests that the meaning of Indus signs could have potentially been known by almost or all (ALL!!) of the population, resulting in a pervasive quasiliteracy far beyond that achieved in Mesopotamia or Egypt." (b) No other civilization mass produced writing (c) Where else did they have public signboards then apart from the Indus? I can instead cite Farmer and declare it the most literate civilization on earth. And he and I could be saying the same thing. I say such terms must be avoided. if they had learned how to use the rebus principle, they would have used it whenever the need arose. Seal writing is always short. Sproat's smoking gun cannot be used to test the stability or the complexity of the system. It has fundamental weaknesses. It cannot also be used to prove that the Indus script didn't have a linguistic component. The Indus script debate - whether it is proto-writing or writing dates back to the 1920's, and many scholars are convinced it is potentially a full step above proto-writing. So how much of what they are saying is new? This team can at the barest minimum be accused of putting words first, and provoking people, without any apparent reason. If you want to say something, say it using the right words. That is most welcome, as fact-finding is the goal of all scientific endeavour. Making fun of ancient people (who couldn't have harmed him in any way) is absolutely disgraceful and in very poor taste. . it amounts to a lack of maturity, if nothing worse. Countries like India and Pakistan did not exist way back then. We are dealing with human history.. People are most welcome to indulge in this if they want to, but they have no right to call it science. Even discussants in debates don't use the words Witzel et al use. This is provoking and making fun of people and qualifies as prejudice. The very reasonable possibility that the Indus script qualifies for full writing does not conflict with any historical models at all. He has even published in Casa Minora `humanistic journal' atleast the choice of words makes it anti-humanistic to the extreme.
The Harappans had the oldest "signboard" in the world, apparently. They mass produced writing (or "writing") . According to Parpola, 1/10th of Mohendodaro (100 square metres) has yielded 2100 seals (with 9000 characters?). Or more than one character per person. I declare the Indus the most literate civilization on earth as every body could `read and write' Farmer. This makes the debate so shallow it is nearly ridiculous. After all what then is the difference beteween the Indus and civilizations which did not yield any trace of writing? History is a subject after all and is taught everywhere in the world. Don't mislead people deliberately and try to deceive them! We hate those who misrepresent history. please find the article below. My comment is at the end.
More people must take up research. People are taking us for a ride. In the age of globalization, we should take up research on other parts of the world too.
one good model for research on the Indus script is given below