This symbol, which portrays an angle of 45 degrees from the vertical line, is a pictograph of a rod for measuring angles. It may have been similar to those found at Lascaux and La Madeleine in France¹.

An astronomer uses the angle of the sun to monitor the passing of the seasons. It is this connection, which gives us the definitions for the Chinese character 卜, which include the verbs to determine, to predict and to forecast.

Mahadevan's sign number 1110 clearly shares a common root with the Chinese character 卜.


Illustrative Text Reference:

Mohenjo-daro: Seal: M-140 a: Jagat Pati Joshi and Asko Parpola, 1987: Corpus of Indus Seals and Inscriptions: Volume 1: Page 45: Collections in India: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.


Image Credit:

Indus Script Sign Number 1110: List of Sign Variants: Iravatham Mahadevan, 1977: The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables: The Director General Archaeological Survey of India.

Note:

1. Geometry and the use of archaic protractors: Lynn Fawcett, 2012: https://www.cavescript.org/research/mathematics/geometry/