As of 1998 the writing system of the Indus valley civilization had not been
decyphered. Like the Etruscan writings, the surviving Indus valley writings
are mostly short, stylized texts and may not offer enough material for a
decypherment.
If the writing has not been decyphered, on what evidence is the claim made
that the people in the Indus valley "became adept mathematicians around
3000BC"?
If evidence can be found about mathematics in the Indus valley civilization,
it would have considerable impact on the study of early mathematics, since
3000 BC is comtemporaneous with the early Egyptian and Mesopotamian and
Chinese civilizations. It might even prove or disprove the van der Waerden
hypothesis about Indo-Europeans spreading mathematics.
a quibble: Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are part of the same civilization, not
separate civilizations.
James A Landau