An Example of Preclassic Mayan Writing?

摘要

San Bartolo, in remote northeastern Guatemala, has been the site of several stunning discoveries from ancient Maya civilization. The news agency Notimex (7), however, insists that the finds represent a modest discovery, a product of media "diffusion and financial support" from "foreign money." Most scholars would politely disagree. With the San Bartolo murals, and the text now reported by Saturno et al. on page 1281 of this issue (2), Maya archaeology of Mexico and northern Central America enters a period of renewed focus on the mental and religious life of the late Preclassic period, a time from -300 B.C. to 100 A.D. As a scientific discipline, the field will be marked by a time before the discovery of these paintings in the jungle of Guatemala, and a time thereafter.