Chanhudaro Seal Carvings Suggest Administrative Literacy in 2500 BCE

Carved seals from Chanhudaro indicate that Indus officials used writing for economic and bureaucratic purposes.

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Chanhudaro seals have been found in warehouses, residential areas, and trade outposts, showing widespread administrative use.

Excavations at Chanhudaro uncovered hundreds of steatite seals with inscriptions in the undeciphered Indus script. The seals, often depicting animals alongside symbols, likely functioned as markers of ownership or trade authorization. Their distribution across domestic, industrial, and trade contexts implies standardized administrative practice. Uniform symbols and seal shapes suggest training and protocol. The seals appear in distant Indus sites, indicating system-wide consistency. Writing was integrated into economic and civic functions. Literacy facilitated trade reliability and accountability. Archaeological context links seals to storage and transactional activities. Indus script may reflect bureaucratic sophistication.

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Seal usage demonstrates how writing enabled regulation of commerce and resource allocation. Standardized symbols reduce dispute and ensure trust. Integration with craft and trade supports urban administration. Literacy becomes a tool of statecraft. Material evidence reveals operational governance. Standardized seals reinforce civic cohesion. Written markers streamline economic oversight.

For merchants and artisans, seal use institutionalized trust in transactions. The irony lies in how undeciphered script continues to convey administrative sophistication to modern researchers. Symbols survive without translation, proving functionality. Writing structured society.

Source

Encyclopaedia Britannica - Chanhudaro

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