Editing Indus script (section)

===Mature Harappan===
In the [[Mature Harappan period]], from about {{circa|2600–1900 BCE|lk=no}}, strings of Indus signs are commonly found on flat, rectangular [[stamp seal]]s as well as written or inscribed on a multitude of other objects including pottery, tools, tablets, and ornaments. Signs were written using a variety of methods including carving, chiselling, embossing, and painting applied to diverse materials such as [[terracotta]], [[sandstone]], [[soapstone]], bone, shell, copper, silver, and gold.{{sfnp|Meadow|Kenoyer|2010|p=xlviii}} {{As of|1977}}, Iravatham Mahadevan noted that about 90% of the Indus script seals and inscribed objects discovered so far were found at sites in [[Pakistan]] along the [[Indus River]] and its tributaries, such as [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Harappa]],{{efn|1540 from Mohenjodaro, 985 from Harappa, 66 from [[Chanhudaro]]}} while other sites located elsewhere account for the remaining 10%.{{efn|165 from [[Lothal]], 99 from [[Kalibangan]], 7 from [[Banawali]], 6 from [[Ur]] in Iraq, 5 from [[Surkotada]], 4 from [[Chandigarh]]}}{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|pp=6–7}}{{sfnp|Singh|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA169 169]}} Often, animals such as bulls, [[water buffalo]]es, elephants, rhinoceros, and the mythical "[[unicorn]]"{{efn|The commonly depicted "unicorn" is most likely a bull drawn in profile as to obscure one horn behind the other.{{sfnp|Bonta|2010|p=6}}}} accompanied the text on seals, possibly to help the illiterate identify the origin of a particular seal.{{sfnp|Sankaranarayanan|2007|p=15}}