  The Indus script remains one of the last major undeciphered scripts of the
ancient world. We focus here on Indus inscriptions on a group of miniature
tablets discovered by Meadow and Kenoyer in Harappa in 1997. By drawing
parallels with proto-Elamite and proto-Cuneiform inscriptions, we explore how
these miniature tablets may have been used to record rations allocated to
porters or laborers. We then show that similar inscriptions are found on stamp
seals, leading to the potentially provocative conclusion that rather than
simply indicating ownership of property, Indus seals may have been used for
generating tokens, tablets and sealings for repetitive economic transactions
such as rations and exchange of canonical amounts of goods, grains, animals,
and labor in a barter-based economy.
