Early Maya writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala

Area of Science:

• Archaeology
• Epigraphy
• Mesoamerican Studies

Background:

• The Late Preclassic period (400 B.C. to 200 A.D.) is crucial for understanding the origins of Maya civilization.
• The site of San Bartolo, Guatemala, is renowned for its preserved murals and architectural history.

Observation:

• Hieroglyphic writing was found on painted walls and plaster fragments within the Las Pinturas pyramid.
• Carbonized wood samples associated with the writing yielded radiocarbon dates between 200 and 300 B.C.

Findings:

• The discovered Maya hieroglyphs represent a developed writing system.
• The dating places this script significantly earlier than prior estimations for Maya writing.

Implications:

• This discovery pushes back the timeline for the emergence of Maya writing.
• It suggests the Maya writing system developed concurrently with the earliest scripts in Mesoamerica.
• The findings necessitate a re-evaluation of the cultural and intellectual development of the Late Preclassic Maya.