Asymmetric Vessel Signs in the Indus Script symbolizing copper smelting crucibles, signifying copper and bronze related meanings — epigraphic, archaeological, and linguistic evidence

Despite more than a century of research, much of the Indus script remains undeciphered. Building on previous work that interprets the Indus script as a semasiographic/logographic writing system used for commercial administration, this article examines a group of neglected asymmetric vessel-shaped signs and proposes that they depict copper-smelting crucibles. Through a multi-pronged methodology integrating graphemic analysis of the Indus script signs, cross-script comparison, archaeological context, script-internal positional analysis, linguistic symbolism, and sign co-occurrence patterns, the study argues that these signs signified refined copper or bronze, copper ingots, and copper-smelting or metalworking activities. The proposed identification is supported by close visual parallels with wedge-shaped crucibles known from the ancient Near East, which inspired Egyptian hieroglyphs used for copper and bronze, as well as by archaeological contexts from Chanhu-daro associated with metalworking. The consistent occurrence of these signs in core informational segments of Indus inscriptions further supports their interpretation as commodity or craft names within taxation and licensing systems.