Dr.

Saikrishna
Dr.Saikrishna Gajavelly
 Most Ancient Billboard in the World

Out Of Home Advertising Roots Found In Ancient India Date Backs To 3-5000Bc.

Outdoor advertising is one of the most affordable forms of marketing in the Sign
industry. Even the ancient world had Billboards or Signboards something a lot like
them. Indus valley civilization is the most ancient civilization in the world. A group
of researchers around the globe have used carbon dating techniques on
animal remains and pottery fragments to conclude that the Indus Valley
settlements could be 8,000 years old. Dholavira also a city in the Indus Valley
Civilization, More than 4000 years ago, Dholavira was one of the largest cities of
its time.

You may know that billboards started in ancient India. Dholavira is a large
archaeological site of the ancient Indus valley civilization, situated in the Kutch
district of Gujarat in Western India. One of the most interesting and significant
discoveries at Dholavira is the billboard found in the northern gateway of the
city and is often called the “Dholavira Signboard”. It could be the world's oldest
signboard, undecipherable of dates back to the 5 - 3000 BC.
The credit of finding this Hoarding with 10 inscribed symbols goes to The
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), by a team led by Prof. R. S. Bisht. The
billboard originally was designed with set pieces of the mineral gypsum to form
ten large symbols on a big wooden board. At some point, the board fell flat on
its face. The wood decayed, but the arrangement of the symbols inscribed
survived. The size of the symbols of the billboard is comparable to large bricks
that were used in nearby walls. Each sign is about 37 cm (15 in) high and the
board on which letters were inscribed was about 3 m (9.8 ft) long. The size of
letters being big that could be viewed from a distance, and the width of the
board matching with the width of the northern gateway of the Dholavira
citadel, it is conjectured to be a large advertising board. The board is long with
10 Indus symbols and one circular symbol appearing four times. Its large size and
public nature make it a key piece of evidence cited by scholars who opine that
the Indus symbols represent a different type of communication. Another four-
sign inscription with big size letters on sandstone was also found at this site,
considered the first of such inscription on a sand stone at any of the excavation
sites. The script has thirty seven cm tall and 6-10 cm wide three large Indus signs,
running from right to left, and there appears to be a fourth sign too. The symbols
or script also matching with modern out of home advertising formats.
 The Place Where Ancient Billboard Was Placed

Excavated Sample Billboard Displaying At Dholavira Museum, This Billboard Have

High Visible From Marketplace (Bazar).
The archaeologists found the symbols by looking for ancient road systems–often,
they write, inscriptions are found along city entrance, three walls enclosed it,
and its gates opened onto broad plazas, busy workshops and spacious stadiums
thoroughfares and at junctions. That sounds just like a modern-day city, where
billboards are often oriented toward areas highly trafficked by walkers or drivers.
It’s a fascinating parallel between today’s modern landscape and its ancient
precedents.

Dr.Saikrishna Gajavelly