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Possible ancient calendar entry found [ Tantoc ruins, San Luis Potosi state, Huasteco culture ]
Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | Friday, October 06, 2006 | Mark Stevenson (AP)

Posted on 10/07/2006 8:53:42 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

Markings on top of the figures appear to depict an entry from, or part of, a 13-month lunar calendar, said archaeologist Guillermo Ahuja, who led the excavation of the monument. "This would be the first depiction of a calendar or calendar elements in such an early time period," he said. The monolith, which measures more than 25 feet and weighs about 20 tons, was found in March 2005 at the Tantoc ruins in San Luis Potosi state, near Mexico's northern Gulf coast, by construction workers. Ahuja theorized that the stone's glyphlike inscriptions were carved sometime around 700 B.C., likely by the Huasteco culture, and may predate other early calendars by hundreds of years. That feasibility of the theory - not yet published in scientific journals - depends on whether the markings really are glyphs or calendar entries, and whether they really are that old. "The earliest calendrical inscriptions that we know of for certain come from Oaxaca . . . and they date to no earlier than 500 B.C.," said E. Wyllys Andrews, an archaeology professor at Tulane University. "Finding this in the Huasteca [region] at 700 B.C. would be a real stretch." ...The announcement came four days after archaeologists in Mexico City discovered a smaller monolith near Mexico City's main square, but the sculpture on that monument cannot yet be read because much of the stone remains buried. The smaller monolith - it measures about 3.5 yards on its longest side - was probably erected in the closing years of the Aztec empire.

(Excerpt) Read more at cleveland.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: archaeoastronomy; godsgravesglyphs; megaliths; stonehenge
Researchers said Thursday they have unearthed what may be one of the earliest calendar entries in Meso-America, a massive stone sculpture that suggests women held important status in pre-Hispanic culture. The monolithic design depicts two decapitated women. Yeah, that's not a non-sequitur or nothin'...

Possible ancient calendar entry found

1 posted on 10/07/2006 8:53:44 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: blam; FairOpinion; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; ...
To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

2 posted on 10/07/2006 8:54:06 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (If I had a nut allergy, I'd be outta here. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Worth killin = important in some circles. They should be asked if they'd apply their claim to an "honor killing".


3 posted on 10/07/2006 12:10:46 PM PDT by GoLightly
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To: SunkenCiv

Perhaps that was a note to self: "If my wife finds out about my girlfriend, they will both lose their heads"?


4 posted on 10/09/2006 5:04:16 AM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (Expect a lot of democrat poll-smoking between now and 11/7)
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