Editing Dravidian languages (section)

===Indus Valley Civilisation===
The [[Indus Valley civilisation]] (3300–1900 BCE), located in the [[Indus Valley]] region, is sometimes suggested to have been Dravidian.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.harappa.com/arrow/stone_celt_indus_signs.html |title=Stone celts in Harappa |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |date=6 May 2006 |website=Harappa |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904034700/http://www.harappa.com/arrow/stone_celt_indus_signs.html |archive-date=4 September 2006}}</ref> Already in 1924, after discovering the Indus Valley Civilisation, [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]] stated that one or more of the languages may have been Dravidic.<ref>M.T. Saju (5 October 2018), [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/tracking-indian-communities/pot-route-could-have-linked-indus-vaigai/ ''Pot route could have linked Indus & Vaigai''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124507/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/tracking-indian-communities/pot-route-could-have-linked-indus-vaigai/ |date=9 February 2019 }}, Times of India</ref> Cultural and linguistic similarities have been cited by researchers [[Henry Heras]], [[Kamil Zvelebil]], [[Asko Parpola]] and [[Iravatham Mahadevan]] as being strong evidence for a proto-Dravidian origin of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation.<ref>{{cite web | last = Rahman | first = Tariq | title = Peoples and languages in pre-Islamic Indus valley | url=http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/subject/peoplesandlanguages.html| quote =most scholars have taken the 'Dravidian hypothesis' seriously | access-date = 2008-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509053921/http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/subject/peoplesandlanguages.html |archive-date=2008-05-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Cole |first=Jennifer |date=2006 |chapter=The Sindhi language |chapter-url=http://www.linguistics.uiuc.edu/jscole/Sindhi_Elsevier_encyl.pdf |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=K. |title=Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd Edition |volume=11 |publisher=Elsevier |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106015921/http://www.linguistics.uiuc.edu/jscole/Sindhi_Elsevier_encyl.pdf |archive-date=6 January 2007 |quote=Harappan language...prevailing theory indicates Dravidian origins }}</ref> The discovery in [[Tamil Nadu]] of a late Neolithic (early 2nd millennium BCE, i.e. post-dating Harappan decline) stone [[celt (tool)|celt]] allegedly marked with Indus signs has been considered by some to be significant for the Dravidian identification.<ref>Subramanium 2006; see also [http://www.harappa.com/arrow/stone_celt_indus_signs.html A Note on the Muruku Sign of the Indus Script in light of the Mayiladuthurai Stone Axe Discovery] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904034700/http://www.harappa.com/arrow/stone_celt_indus_signs.html |date=4 September 2006 }} by I. Mahadevan (2006)</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Subramanian |first=T.S. |date=1 May 2006 |title=Significance of Mayiladuthurai find |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/05/01/stories/2006050101992000.htm |newspaper=The Hindu |access-date=27 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430214654/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/05/01/stories/2006050101992000.htm |archive-date=30 April 2008 }}</ref>

[[Yuri Knorozov]] surmised that the symbols represent a [[logosyllabic]] script and suggested, based on computer analysis, an underlying agglutinative Dravidian language as the most likely candidate for the underlying language.<ref>{{harvnb|Knorozov|1965|p=117}}</ref> Knorozov's suggestion was preceded by the work of Henry Heras, who suggested several readings of signs based on a proto-Dravidian assumption.<ref>{{harvnb|Heras|1953|p=138}}</ref>

Linguist Asko Parpola writes that the Indus script and Harappan language are "most likely to have belonged to the Dravidian family".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate|page=183|author=Edwin Bryant|publisher=Oxford|isbn=9780195169478|year=2003}}</ref> Parpola led a Finnish team in investigating the inscriptions using computer analysis. Based on a proto-Dravidian assumption, they proposed readings of many signs, some agreeing with the suggested readings of Heras and Knorozov (such as equating the "fish" sign with the Dravidian word for fish, "min") but disagreeing on several other readings. A comprehensive description of Parpola's work until 1994 is given in his book ''Deciphering the Indus Script''.<ref>{{harvnb|Parpola|1994}}</ref>