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Earliest known Mayan writing found in Guatemala
Yahoo ^
| 1/6/06
| Mikey_1962
Posted on 01/06/2006 9:02:08 AM PST by Mikey_1962
ANTIGUA, Guatemala (Reuters) - Archeologists excavating a pyramid complex in the Guatemalan jungle have uncovered the earliest example of Mayan writing ever found, 10 bold hieroglyphs painted on plaster and stone.
The 2,300-year-old glyphs were excavated last April in San Bartolo and suggest the ancient Mayas developed an advanced writing system centuries earlier than previously believed, according to an article published on Thursday in the journal Science.
The glyphs date from between 200 BC and 300 BC and come from the same site in the Peten jungle of northern Guatemala where archeologist William Saturno found the oldest murals in the Mayan world in 2001. Radiocarbon tests prove the writing is 100 years older than the murals depicting the Mayan creation myth.
The glyphs, thin black paintings on off-white stucco, lay in a plastic tub in a laboratory in an old house in the colonial city of Antigua on Thursday as archeologists cleaned and cataloged other stones from the San Bartolo site.
While the writing is mostly indecipherable, Saturno and his team claim one glyph could be an early version of the word "ajaw" or "ruler."
"People have long been hoping to find a carved stone monument from this period of the Maya," said Mary Miller, a Mayan art expert at Yale University.
"It turned out not to be carved in stone but instead associated with this incredible complex of early paintings," she said. "It's as if we were to find pictures of Jesus on the cross from the time when he was really alive."
The pyramids at San Bartolo were constructed over several centuries with newer structures built over the old. Guatemalan archeologist Boris Beltran discovered the hieroglyphic writings by accident while excavating a structure buried deep below the room housing the ancient murals.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: billsaturno; epigraphy; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; guatemala; king3ajaw; language; mayans; sanbartolo; williamsaturno
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Maybe they are directions to the US border?
To: Mikey_1962
"It's as if we were to find pictures of Jesus on the cross from the time when he was really alive." I think the lady's in a time warp.
2
posted on
01/06/2006 9:05:13 AM PST
by
Tax-chick
(I am just not sure how to get from here to where we want to be.)
To: Mikey_1962
3
posted on
01/06/2006 9:05:21 AM PST
by
coconutt2000
(NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
To: Mikey_1962
"It's as if we were to find pictures of Jesus on the cross from the time when he was really alive." Sometimes people say really stupid things in the heat of the moment.
4
posted on
01/06/2006 9:06:07 AM PST
by
TChris
("Unless you act, you're going to lose your world." - Mark Steyn)
To: Mikey_1962
"It's as if we were to find pictures of Jesus on the cross from the time when he was really alive." Riiiight! Quickly call daVinci, or someone might be already working on the movie.
To: Mikey_1962
They say:
Starbucks Opening Soon!..........
6
posted on
01/06/2006 9:07:03 AM PST
by
Red Badger
(And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him)
To: Mikey_1962
An op-ed by Helen Thomas?
7
posted on
01/06/2006 9:08:52 AM PST
by
JZelle
To: TChris
8
posted on
01/06/2006 9:21:10 AM PST
by
vikk
To: SunkenCiv
To: vikk
I thought it was stupid because Jesus died on the cross, and therefore "... on the cross from the time when he was alive," is a nonsequitur.
10
posted on
01/06/2006 9:23:56 AM PST
by
Tax-chick
(I am just not sure how to get from here to where we want to be.)
To: Mikey_1962
Translation: "Do NOT go in there. Man, that burrito came back on me."
11
posted on
01/06/2006 9:24:09 AM PST
by
mikeus_maximus
(Voting for "the lesser of two evils" is still evil.)
To: Mikey_1962
These are glyphs, so pictures, right? Not an alphabet per se. Although I heard somewhere that all the world's alphabets are related. Roman, Greek, Runic, Arabic, Cyrillic, various Indian subcontinent alphabets and even Asiatic alphabets.
12
posted on
01/06/2006 9:26:50 AM PST
by
Koblenz
(Holland: a very tolerant country. Until someone shoots you on a public street in broad daylight...)
To: vikk
How is that stupid? Well, since Jesus died on the cross, it would be pretty tough for anyone "from the time he was really alive" to have painted it. More likely "from the time after he was really alive."
It's not too hard to understand the meaning of what was said, but it was a dumb way to phrase it.
13
posted on
01/06/2006 9:32:28 AM PST
by
TChris
("Unless you act, you're going to lose your world." - Mark Steyn)
To: Red Badger; colorcountry
While the writing is mostly indecipherable, Saturno and his team claim one glyph could be an early version of the word "ajaw" or "ruler."There must be sombody in the Mormon corridor that can translate this.
14
posted on
01/06/2006 9:32:56 AM PST
by
Utah Binger
(Proud To Have Recovered!)
To: Mikey_1962
Milk
fruit
berries
lyama steak
lamma steak
hamburger
facepaint
15
posted on
01/06/2006 9:32:56 AM PST
by
FreedomFarmer
(Beyond the sidewalks, past the pavement, in the real America.)
To: Utah Binger
Get out your Urim and Thummin cuz the Mormons are a comin'!
16
posted on
01/06/2006 9:35:52 AM PST
by
colorcountry
(That's what happens when you fall for a pistol. (No, no, I don't mean no gun.))
To: Utah Binger
Is this a good time to post a picture of my beautiful, half-guatemalan grand babies?
17
posted on
01/06/2006 9:39:57 AM PST
by
colorcountry
(That's what happens when you fall for a pistol. (No, no, I don't mean no gun.))
To: FreedomFarmer
Be sure to eat your Ovaltine.
18
posted on
01/06/2006 9:43:28 AM PST
by
Blood of Tyrants
(G-d is not a Republican. But Satan is definitely a Democrat.)
To: colorcountry
Look like translators to me. Cuties!
19
posted on
01/06/2006 9:46:05 AM PST
by
Utah Binger
(Proud To Have Recovered!)
To: colorcountry
Did they share in Rosca de Reyes today???
20
posted on
01/06/2006 9:55:17 AM PST
by
Mikey_1962
(I grew up in a slum, when I got to college it had become a "ghetto".)
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