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NSF PR 02-97 - December 5, 2002
Scientists Find Earliest "New World" Writings in Mexico
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Cylinder seal from San Andrés, Tabasco, Mexico, showing the glyphs, including 3 Ajaw, the name of a day in the 260-day Mesoamerican calendar.
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Greenstone plaque fragments with early glyphs from the same archaeological site at San Andrés. Fragments were probably from high status jewelry of the time.
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The Naranjeño River flows through the Gulf Coast region in Mexico near Tabasco and the excavation site where the New World's earliest writings were discovered.
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ARLINGTON, Virginia - Scientists have uncovered
evidence of what is believed to be the earliest form of
writing ever found in the New World. The discovery was
based on glyphs carved on a cylindrical seal used to make
imprints, and on greenstone plaque fragments found near La
Venta in Tabasco, Mexico in the Gulf Coast region. The
writings were produced during the Olmec era, a pre-Mayan
civilization, and are estimated to date from 650 B.C.
Mary E.D. Pohl of Florida State University, Kevin O.
Pope of Geo Eco Arc Research and Christopher von Nagy of
Tulane University, describe the findings in the Dec. 6
edition of Science. Pohl's research was funded primarily
by the National Science Foundation. The artifacts, which
are about 350 years older than the earliest specimens until
now challenge previously held notions about the earliest of
Mesoamerican peoples who developed the first system of
written communication.
"It was generally accepted that Mayans were among the
first Mesoamerican societies to use writing. But this find
indicates that the Olmecs' form of written communication
led into what became forms of writing for several other
cultures," said John Yellen, an archaeologist and NSF's
program manager for the research.
Pohl's excavations leading to the discovery of the
Olmec writings were conducted at San Andrés, near La Venta
in 1997 and 1998. Her team included colleagues Pope, von
Nagy and four students, three American and one Dutch.
Pohl's team has worked for several years beyond the initial
excavations to analyze, refine and confirm the estimated
date of the Olmec writings.
"We knew we had found something important. The motifs
were glyph-like but we weren't sure at first what we had
until they were viewed more closely," Pohl said.
Scientists had previously discovered related
hieroglyphic scripts and associated "sacred 260-day
calendar" among the people of the Mayan, Isthmian and
Oaxacan regions in the Late Formative period (400 B.C. to
A.D. 200). These peoples came from areas around the Gulf
Coast region across wide areas of eastern through southern
Mexico surrounding the gulf.
Pohl suggests in the Science article that these
writings and calendric systems "have close similarities,
indicating that they probably came from a common ancestral
script." These ancestors, the Olmecs, appear between 1300
-400 B.C., considered the Formative period of Mesoamerican
history.
"The connection between writing, the calendar and
kingship within the Olmecs is indicated in these
communications, dating to 650 B.C., which makes sense,
since the Olmecs were the first known peoples in
Mesoamerica to have a state level political structure, and
writing is a way to communicate power and influence," Pohl
says.
One of the indicators of this political system was
found by Pohl's group as they excavated through a rare
sampling of Olmec refuse debris which included human and
animal bone, as well as objects such as food serving
vessels, hollow figurines and the cylinder seal and
greenstone plaque fragments containing the evidence of
Olmec writings.
One of these writings contained the glyphic element
determined to be close to early Mayan counterparts
representing the day sign ajaw, or king. The scientists
interpreted part of the glyphic inscription to contain the
word "3 Ajaw," the name of a day on the 260-day calendar,
which could also represent the personal name of a king.
Whether or not the interpretation is entirely accurate,
Pohl says that the evidence suggests association between
writing and "rulership." The cylinder seal, for example
was probably used to imprint clothing with the King 3 Ajaw
symbol. Clothing and jewelry were important items, Pohl
says, to show rank and status in the Olmec society and the
connection of minor nobility at San Andrés to the rulers at
La Venta.
And what happened to the Olmecs?
"It is unclear, but at least in the lowland region of
the Tabascan coastal plain where we conducted our research,
flooding due to changing courses of rivers over time led to
the abandonment of the Olmec settlement at San Andrés and
probably other sites in this area. It is possible, too,
that the Mayans increased their power and came to dominate,
taking over trade routes, leading to the end of the Olmecs
as we know it," Pohl explained.
Other funding for the research by Pohl and colleagues
came from the Foundation for the Advancement of
Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. Support was also provided by
Brigham Young University's New World Archaeological
Foundation and Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology
and History (Instituto de Antropologia e Historia).
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