The ancient Indus Valley civilization, flourishing in 3300 BCE across what is today Pakistan and India, stands as one of the world's first major civilizations.
Spanning a territory larger than those of Mesopotamia and Egypt, it is distinguished by remarkable advancements such as the use of uniform weights and measures, the presence of skilled artisans, a developed trade system, and over 500 symbols and signs for communication.
Series of Indus seals by Iravatham Mahadevan.
Credit: Florida Institute of Technology.
However, the exact nature of these signs remains a topic of debate among experts. While some view these characters as a structured language, others consider them mere pictograms. This mystery, unsolved for decades, has been a significant barrier to a profound understanding of this civilization.
In this context, an ambitious project has emerged, led by Debasis Mitra, a professor of computer science, thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the digitization and archiving of Indus Valley artifacts. With the assistance of Deva Atturu, a master's student, Mitra is developing a machine learning algorithm capable of identifying and digitizing the ancient Indus script.
The challenge is significant, especially due to the scarcity of digitized data available and the sometimes-poor quality of the existing data. Nonetheless, by using an automatic script recognition system based on artificial neural networks, the project has already achieved an 88% success rate in detecting graphemes.
Mitra's goal is not to settle the debate on the nature of the Indus symbols but to provide researchers with the necessary tools to advance their investigations. The prospect of eventually being able to take a picture with a smartphone of a text or symbol in the field and seeing it automatically digitized and added to a database is particularly promising.
Beyond the technical aspect, this project has a personal dimension for Mitra, who sees it as a way to contribute to the rediscovery of his country's history. The involvement of Indian students and the interest shown by international researchers, including American students, attest to the universal appeal of the Indus civilization and the importance of preserving it for future generations.