Fifty years ago: Concordance of Indus script to be published
The article reports that the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay will publish a Concordance of the Indus script using a new computerized photo composition printing process, a first in India. Over 9,000 seals with Indus script symbols have been excavated from Mohenjo Daro, Harappa (Pakistan), and Kalibanga (Rajasthan), dating back 4,000 years. Finnish scholars previously prepared a concordance using computer plotting, and Russian scholars published their own version. Indian scholar I. Mahadevan is now attempting to publish an updated concordance using a different method: an artist will draw basic symbols, which will be microfilmed, while text and statistical data will be typed onto electronic tapes. Each sign gets a code number, and the computer selects appropriate signs from microfilm for photo composition printing. This method allows the 700-page concordance to be printed quickly and cheaply, with each microfilm symbol usable for multiple impressions.
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