Hunter G.R. The Script of Harappa and Mohenjodaro and its Connection with other Scripts

London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1934. — xii, 210, [38] p.: illus. — (Studies in the history of culture; 1).The present work and the author's "Sumerian contracts from Nippur" were submitted to the University of Oxford in June 1929 for the degree of doctor of philosophy. The material for this work was provided by some 750 inscribed objects unearthed at the sites in Mohenjodaro and Harappa. These copper coins were also found, and some slabs of clay impressed. The work was first in the study of these scripts, so it was its methodology. The method adopted was to tabulate every occurrence of each sign together with those signs whose morphography suggested the possibility of their being variants. In this way certain sign sequences showed themselves to be of common occurrence. Thus it was possible to recognize variants and also words. The author has also compared these scripts with other scripts, viz. Proto-Elamite and Sumerian scripts, bringing out resemblance between them and suggested that the connection could be due to community of descent or borrowing, which was still to be determined then.