Indus Valley's Bronze Age civilisation 'had first sophisticated financial exchange system'
crunch
"According to a new study of clay pots and ceramic tablets discovered
almost 70 years ago in Harappa, now in Pakistan, the people of the
Indus Valley had a detailed system of commodity value, weights and
measures.
Dr Bryan Wells, a researcher based at India's Institute of
Mathematical Sciences, told The Daily Telegraph he had begun work on
his thesis ten years ago when he first saw photographs of the clay
pots with markings which appeared to be in proportion to their
relative size.
But he was not able to test his thesis until he visited New Delhi
earlier this month where the original pots are stored in one of the
city's Mughal era forts. The three pots each had different markings,
the smallest with a 'V' to indicate 'measure' and three long strokes.
The medium vessel had six strokes and the largest had seven.
When he measured them he found they were in proportionate capacity:
3:6:7.
The inscriptions on the pots matched those on bas relief ceramic
tablets which he believes are tokens of exchange for fixed measures of
grain or other commodities."
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Comments, please.
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David Christainsen