Editing Yoni (section)

=== Archaeology ===
The colonial era archaeologists [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]] and [[Ernest J. H. Mackay|Ernest Mackay]] proposed that certain polished stones with holes found at Harappan sites may be evidence of yoni-linga worship in Indus Valley civilisation.<ref name="aparpola1985">{{Cite journal |last=Parpola |first=Asko |author-link=Asko Parpola |year=1985 |title=The Sky Garment – A study of the Harappan religion and its relation to the Mesopotamian and later Indian religions |journal=Studia Orientalia |publisher=The Finnish Oriental Society |volume=57 |pages=101–107}}</ref> Scholars such as [[Arthur Llewellyn Basham]] dispute whether such artifacts discovered at the archaeological sites of Indus Valley sites are yoni.<ref name=aparpola1985/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Basham |first=Arthur Llewellyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LscvuQEACAAJ |title=The Wonder that was India: A Survey of the History and Culture of the Indian Subcontinent Before the Coming of the Muslims |publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson (1986 Reprint) |year=1967 |isbn=978-0-283-99257-5 |page=24}}, Quote: "It has been suggested that certain large ring-shaped stones are formalized representations of the female regenerative organ and were symbols of the Mother Goddess, but this is most doubtful."</ref> For example, Jones and Ryan state that lingam/yoni shapes have been recovered from the archaeological sites at [[Harappa]] and [[Mohenjo-daro]], part of the [[Indus Valley civilisation]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Constance |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |last2=Ryan |first2=James D. |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2006 |page=516}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chawla |first=Jyotsna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EX3XAAAAMAAJ |title=The R̥gvedic deities and their iconic forms |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |year=1990 |isbn=978-81-215-0082-1 |page=185}}</ref> In contrast, Jane McIntosh states that truncated ring stones with holes were once considered as possibly yonis. Later discoveries at the Dholavira site, and further studies, have proven that these were pillar components because the "truncated ring stones with holes" are integral architectural components of the pillars. However, states McIntosh, the use of these structures in architecture does not rule out their simultaneous religious significance as yoni.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McIntosh |first=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC&pg=PA287 |title=The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-57607-907-2 |pages=286–287}}</ref>

According to the Indologist [[Asko Parpola]], "it is true that Marshall's and Mackay's hypotheses of linga and yoni worship by the Harappans has rested on rather slender grounds, and that for instance the interpretation of the so-called ring-stones as yonis seems untenable".<ref name=aparpola1985/> He quotes Dales 1984 paper, which states "with the single exception of the unidentified photography of a realistic phallic object in Marshall's report, there is no archaeological evidence to support claims of special sexually-oriented aspects of Harappan religion".<ref name=aparpola1985/> However, adds Parpola, a re-examination at Indus Valley sites suggest that the Mackay's hypothesis cannot be ruled out because erotic and sexual scenes such as ithyphallic males, naked females, a human couple having intercourse and trefoil imprints have now been identified at the Harappan sites.<ref name=aparpola1985/> The "finely polished circular stand" found by Mackay may be yoni although it was found without the linga. The absence of linga, states Parpola, may be because it was made from wood which did not survive.<ref name=aparpola1985/>