Two types of circular disks with markings were used by both the Vinca's and Harrapans. Might they be related?

by Thistleknot

Vinca with an unknown purpose to the markings.

Harrappan where their discs were posited as being used as passports.

The circular discs with markings along with a center hole (possibly to wear it?) stood out to me.

I understand that both cultures shared some iconography between themselves (check out the Vinca script).

Tiako

It sort of depends on what you mean. Could the Vinca tablets be "passports" similar to what the Japanese researchers have very plausibly suggested for this IVC seals? Sure. A passport meant here is basically just a marker showing group affiliation, and these are fairly common among societies that maintain wide trading networks. It is possible the Vinca tablets functioned in a similar way.

But could there be a connection between the two societies? That is entirely implausible. For one, there is two thousand years between them. That is an enormous stretch of time, the amount of time between us and Christopher Columbus four times over. Secondly, they existed in entirely separate parts of the world with no evidence for any connection between them. I'm also a bit curious why you think the two cultures shared iconography, to my eyes the IVC script and Vinca script look completely different.