diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c632c212..463588e0 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -384,6 +384,7 @@ list (
     time.hpp
     time/parse.hpp
     time/parse8601.cpp
+    tuple/index.hpp
     tuple/type.hpp
     tuple/value.hpp
     typeidx.cpp
@@ -537,6 +538,7 @@ if (TESTS)
         thread/ticketlock
         time/8601
         traits
+        tuple/index
         tuple/value
         tuple/type
         typeidx
diff --git a/test/tuple/index.cpp b/test/tuple/index.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b7193c47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tuple/index.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#include "tap.hpp"
+#include "tuple/index.hpp"
+
+
+int
+main ()
+{
+    util::TAP::logger tap;
+
+    {
+        using a_t = util::tuple::index::indices<0,1,2>;
+        using b_t = util::tuple::index::indices<4,3>;
+
+        using result_t = util::tuple::index::cat<a_t,b_t>::type;
+        using expected_t = util::tuple::index::indices<0,1,2,4,3>;
+
+        tap.expect (std::is_same_v<result_t, expected_t>, "index concatenation");
+    }
+
+    {
+        using indices_t = util::tuple::index::make_indices<4>::type;
+        using expected_t = util::tuple::index::indices<0,1,2,3>;
+
+        tap.expect (std::is_same_v<indices_t,expected_t>, "index sequence creation");
+    }
+
+    {
+        using indices_t = util::tuple::index::make_reverse_t<4>;
+        using expected_t = util::tuple::index::indices<3,2,1,0>;
+        tap.expect (std::is_same_v<indices_t,expected_t>, "reverse index sequence creation");
+    }
+
+    return tap.status ();
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tuple/index.hpp b/tuple/index.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d2baf443
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tuple/index.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ *
+ * Copyright 2018 Danny Robson <danny@nerdcruft.net>
+ */
+
+#ifndef CRUFT_UTIL_TUPLE_VALUE_HPP
+#define CRUFT_UTIL_TUPLE_VALUE_HPP
+
+#include <cstddef>
+
+///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// the implementation of all the below must be standalone as they are a
+// potential building block in other algorithms and we can't be sure we
+// won't create a dependency loop somewhere.
+namespace util::tuple::index {
+    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+    template <size_t ...Indices>
+    struct indices {};
+
+
+    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+    template <typename A, typename B>
+    struct cat;
+
+    //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    template <
+        size_t ...A,
+        size_t ...B
+    >
+    struct cat<
+        indices<A...>,
+        indices<B...>
+    > {
+        using type = indices<A..., B...>;
+    };
+
+
+    //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    template <typename A, typename B>
+    using cat_t = typename cat<A,B>::type;
+
+
+    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+    namespace detail {
+        template <size_t N>
+        struct make_indices {
+            using type = cat_t<
+                typename make_indices<N-1>::type,
+                indices<N-1>
+            >;
+        };
+
+
+        template <>
+        struct make_indices<0> {
+            using type = indices<>;
+        };
+    };
+
+    //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // create a monotonically increasing index sequence over the range [0,N)
+    template <size_t N>
+    struct make_indices {
+        using type = typename detail::make_indices<N>::type;
+    };
+
+    //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    template <size_t N>
+    using make_indices_t = typename make_indices<N>::type;
+
+
+    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+    namespace detail {
+        template <typename Indices>
+        struct make_reverse;
+
+        template <size_t Head, size_t ...Tail>
+        struct make_reverse<
+            indices<Head,Tail...>
+        > {
+            using type = cat_t<
+                typename make_reverse<indices<Tail...>>::type,
+                indices<Head>
+            >;
+        };
+
+
+        template <>
+        struct make_reverse<
+            indices<>
+        > {
+            using type = indices<>;
+        };
+    };
+
+
+    //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // create a montonically decreasing index sequence over the range (N-1, 0].
+    //
+    // eg, make_reverse<3> is indices<3,2,1,0>
+    template <size_t N>
+    struct make_reverse {
+        using type = typename detail::make_reverse<
+            make_indices_t<N>
+        >::type;
+    };
+
+
+    //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    template <size_t N>
+    using make_reverse_t = typename make_reverse<N>::type;
+};
+
+
+#endif