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Evidence for the earliest known Maya calendar has been found in San Bartolo, Guatemala, by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. While excavating murals at a site in San Bartolo, two fragments were found and pieced together to form the notation "7 Deer," which dates back more than 2,000 years to 300 B.C., several centuries older than previously obtained evidence..."The Maya calendar is one of the most distinctive and well-known features of the culture and of traditional Mesoamerican peoples. It was in use for centuries before the arrival of Europeans, and some of it is still being used...

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...