Las Culturas

New Find Pushes Back Date of Mayan Writing

News - Culture - Latin America

Poking through some of the innermost rubble of an ancient pyramid known as Las Pinturas in San Bartolo, Guatemala, graduate student Boris Beltrán uncovered a boulder-size chunk of plaster. Mayan builders had created the boulder when constructing the third version of Las Pinturas, following their practice of supporting subsequent structures with the ruined remnants of the preceding pyramid. This particular fragment happened to be part of an ancient mural and thick black hieroglyphics ran down its side, following a faint pinkish-orange guideline.

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According to radiocarbon dating of burnt wood bits found in the plaster and from surrounding strata, it is by far the oldest known Mayan writing--dating from between 300 and 200 B.C., which is roughly concurrent with the earliest writings of other Mesoamerican cultures. Previous examples of Mayan script could only be confidently dated to around A.D. 250, leading to speculation that the Mayans may have inherited their writing from other, older cultures, such as the Zapotec, despite stylistic differences.

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