Olmec hieroglyphs
Encyclopedia
Serpentinite
Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle...
slab which has been dated to the early first millennium BCE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
incised with hitherto unknown characters that may represent the earliest writing system
Mesoamerican writing systems
Mesoamerica, like India, Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt, is one of the few places in the world where writing has developed independently. Mesoamerican scripts deciphered to date are logosyllabic, combining the use of logograms with a syllabary, and they are often called hieroglyphic scripts...
in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. Archaeologist Stephen D. Houston
Stephen D. Houston
Stephen Douglas Houston is an American anthropologist, archaeologist, epigrapher and Mayanist scholar, who is particularly renowned for his research into the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica...
of Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
said that this discovery helps to "link the Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
civilization to literacy, document an unsuspected writing system, and reveal a new complexity to [the Olmec] civilization."
The Cascajal Block was discovered by road builders in the late 1990s in a pile of debris in the village of Lomas de Tacamichapa in the Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
lowlands in the ancient Olmec heartland
Olmec heartland
The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's Gulf Coast region between the Tuxtla mountains and the Olmec archaeological site of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km inland from the Gulf of Mexico coastline at its deepest...
. The block was found amidst ceramic shards and clay figurines and from these the block is dated to the Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
archaeological culture
Archaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place, which are thought to constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between the artifacts is based on archaeologists' understanding and interpretation and...
's San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán
San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán is the collective name for three related archaeological sites -- San Lorenzo, Tenochtitlán, and Potrero Nuevo -- located in the southeast portion of the Mexican state of Veracruz. From 1200 BCE to 900 BCE, it was the major center of Olmec culture...
phase, which ended c. 900 BCE, preceding the oldest Zapotec
Zapotec civilization
The Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca of southern Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows their culture goes back at least 2500 years...
writing dated to about 500 BCE. Archaeologists Carmen Rodriguez and Ponciano Ortiz of the National Institute of Anthropology and History
National Institute of Anthropology and History
The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia is a Mexican federal government bureau established in 1939 to guarantee the research, preservation, protection, and promotion of the prehistoric, archaeological, anthropological, historical, and paleontological heritage of Mexico...
of Mexico examined and registered it with government historical authorities. It weighs about 11.5 kg (25 lb) and measures 36 cm × 21 cm × 13 cm. Details of the find were published by researchers in the 15 September 2006 issue of the journal Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
.
Putative Olmec writing system
The OlmecOlmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
flourished in the Gulf Coast region of Mexico
Gulf Coast of Mexico
The Gulf Coast of Mexico stretches along the Gulf of Mexico from the border with the United states at Matamoros, Tamaulipas all the way to the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula at Cancún. It includes the coastal regions along the Bay of Campeche. Major cities include Veracruz, Tampico, and...
, ca. 1250–400 BCE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
. The evidence for this writing system is based solely on the text on the Cascajal Block.
The block holds a total of 62 glyphs, some of which resemble plants such as corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and ananas
Ananas
The genus Ananas belongs to the Bromeliad family . It is best known for the species Ananas comosus, the pineapple.This genus originated in Mesoamerica and was brought to the Caribbean Islands by the Carib natives...
, or animals such as insects and fish. Many of the symbols are more abstract boxes or blobs. The symbols on the Cascajal block are unlike those of any other writing system in Mesoamerica, such as in Mayan languages or Isthmian
Isthmian script
The Isthmian script is a very early Mesoamerican writing system in use in the area of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec from perhaps 500 BCE to 500 CE, although there is disagreement on these dates...
, another extinct Mesoamerican script. The Cascajal block is also unusual because the symbols apparently run in horizontal rows and "there is no strong evidence of overall organization. The sequences appear to be conceived as independent units of information". All other known Mesoamerican scripts typically use vertical rows.the cascajal was the first writing.
Authors of the report
- Stephen D. HoustonStephen D. HoustonStephen Douglas Houston is an American anthropologist, archaeologist, epigrapher and Mayanist scholar, who is particularly renowned for his research into the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica...
, who also worked on the study, said the text if decoded will decipher "earliest voices of Mesoamerican civilization." "Some of the pictographic signs were frequently repeated, particularly ones that looked like an insect or a lizard." Houston suspected that "these might be signs alerting the reader to the use of words that sound alike but have different meanings—as in the difference between "I" and "eye" in English." He concluded, "the linear sequencing, the regularity of signs, the clear patterns of ordering, they tell me this is writing. But we don't know what it says." - "This is extremely important because we never recognized this writing system, until this discovery," said archaeologist Karl TaubeKarl TaubeKarl Andreas Taube is an American Mesoamericanist, archaeologist, epigrapher and ethnohistorian, known for his publications and research into the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. he holds a position as Professor of Anthropology at the College of Humanities,...
of the University of California Riverside, who was involved in the documentation and publication of the discovery. "We've known they have very elaborate art, and iconography, but this is the first strong indication that they had visually recorded speech." - For Richard Diehl of the University of Alabama, the discovery announced in the journal Science amounted to rock-solid proof that the Olmecs had a form of writing. Diehl has believed "all along" that the Olmecs possessed the ability to write and discovery of the stone "corroborates my gut feelings."
Additional support
- William SaturnoWilliam SaturnoWilliam "Bill" Andrew Saturno is an American archaeologist and Mayanist scholar who has made significant contributions toward the study of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. As of 2008 Saturno holds a position as assistant professor in Archaeology at Boston University's College of Arts and Sciences...
not involved in the study agreed with Houston that the horizontally arranged inscription shows patterns that are the hallmarks of true writing, including syntax and language-specific word order. "That's full-blown, legitimate text—written symbols taking the place of spoken words," said Saturno, a University of New Hampshire anthropologist and expert in Mesoamerican writing. - Mary Pohl at Florida State University is an expert on the Olmec. She said "One sign looks actually like a corn cob with silk coming out the top. Other signs are unique, and never before seen, like one of an insect…These objects—and thus probably the writing—had a special value in rituals…We see that the writing is very closely connected with ritual and the early religious beliefs, because they are taking the ritual carvings and putting them into glyphs and making writing out of them. And all of this is occurring in the context of the emergence of early kings and the development of a centralized power and stratified society."
- David StuartDavid Stuart (Mayanist)David Stuart is a Mayanist scholar and professor of Mesoamerican art and writing at the University of Texas at Austin.-Early life:He is the son of Mayanist scholars George Stuart and Gene S. Stuart...
, a University of Texas at Austin expert in Mesoamerican writing, was not connected with the discovery, but reviewed the study for Science. He said "To me, this find really does bring us back to this idea that at least writing and a lot of the things we associate with Mesoamerican culture really did have their origin in this region." - Lisa LeCount, an associate professor of archaeology at the University of Alabama, theorized that, if it is a crown, it might have been carved into the stone to establish leadership. "The stone could have been used as a tool by an emerging king to validate his exalted position and to legitimize his right to the throne. Only the elite in that society would have known how to read and write." LeCount said there should be no question that the Olmecs represented the "mother culture" and predated the Mayans, whose writings and buildings remain to this day.
- Caterina MagniCaterina MagniCaterina Magni is an Italian-born French archaeologist and anthropologist, who specialises in the study of pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica, and in particular the iconography, art and mythology and religion of the Olmec civilization...
, an Associate Professor of Prehispanic Archaeology at the University of Paris IV: Paris-SorbonneUniversity of Paris IV: Paris-SorbonneParis-Sorbonne University is a public research university in Paris, France. The 1968 cultural revolution, commonly known as the French May, resulted in the division of the world's second oldest academic institution, the University of Paris, into thirteen autonomous universities...
, presents a new interpretation of the Cascajal Block. Initially, the author interpreted each glyph in an isolated way. In the second time, C. Magni proposes a religious reading of the text. "This elaborate code supports and expresses an extremely sophisticated manner of thinking, which refers primarily to religious notions but also, to a lesser extent, to the socio-political domain."
Scepticism
Some archaeologists are sceptical about the importance of the tablet:- For David GroveDavid GroveDavid C. Grove is an American anthropologist, archaeologist and academic, known for his contributions and research into the Preclassic period cultures of Mesoamerica, in particular those of the Mexican altiplano and Gulf Coast regions...
, an archaeologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville who was not involved in the research, the tablet "looked like a fake to me because the symbols are laid out in horizontal rows," unlike the region's other writing systems, he said. - Archaeologist Christopher Pool of the University of Kentucky in Lexington has known about the tablet for a couple years. "I've always been a little skeptical of it," Pool said. "For one, it's unique," he continued. Another critical issue, Pool adds, is that when Rodriguez and Ortiz retrieved the tablet, it was already removed from the ground, taking it out of its original archaeological context.
- Max Schvoerer, professor at the Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3, and founder of the Laboratoire de Physique appliquée à l'Archéologie, said "Unfortunately, the authors determined the age of the block only indirectly, by studying ceramics shards found at the site, in the absence of a well identified and dated level of occupation."
Formal criticism
The most comprehensive criticism was published in Science magazine, the publisher of the original study, on March 9, 2007. In a letter, archaeologists Karen Bruhns and Nancy Kelker raise five points of concern:- The block was found in a pile of bulldozer debris and cannot be reliably dated.
- The block is unique. There is no other known example of Olmec drawing, much less writing, on a serpentine slab.
- All other Mesoamerican writing systemsMesoamerican writing systemsMesoamerica, like India, Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt, is one of the few places in the world where writing has developed independently. Mesoamerican scripts deciphered to date are logosyllabic, combining the use of logograms with a syllabary, and they are often called hieroglyphic scripts...
are written either vertically or linearly. The glyphs on the block are arranged in neither format but instead "randomly bunch". - As pointed out by the original authors, some of the glyphs do appear on other Olmec artifacts, but have never been heretofore identified as writing, only as decorative motifs.
- "What we can only describe as the 'cootie' glyph (#1/23/50) fits no known category of Mesoamerican glyph and, together with the context of the discovery, strongly suggests a practical joke".
David Freidel and F. Kent Reilly III (2010 “The Flesh of God, Cosmology, Food, and the Origins of Political Power in Southeastern Mesoamerica” in Pre-Columbian Foodways: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Mesoamerica edited by John E. Staller and Michael D. Carrasco. pp. 635–680. Springer)argue that the Cascajal Block is authentic. They propose that the incised symbols on the block represent the contents of three sacred bundles arranged broadly horizontally,to be read in boustrophon fashion from top to bottom and alternatively left to right and right to left. They argue that the majority of the symbols on the block are found in the established corpus of Middle Formative art and many are otherwise part of iconographically comprehensible compositions that are designed to be read pictographically and not as script encoding spoken language. Rather than regard the Cascajal Block as an epistemological dead-end, the conclusion if it is identified as a unique script, they identify the block as a key to understanding the arrangement of sacred objects cached to memorialize acts of divination, a pervasive ritual practice well attested in the archaeology of Formative period Mesoamerica.
A rebuttal to the criticism by the authors of the original study was published directly following the letter:
- Other critical Mesoamerican finds, as well as the Rosetta stoneRosetta StoneThe Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
, were also found without provenance. - Such inscriptions are faint and may as yet be unseen on previously discovered slabs.
- The signs are in a "purposeful" pattern.
- "All known hieroglyphic systems in the world relate to pre-existing iconography or codified symbolism", and therefore it is not surprising that the Cascajal glyphs appear in other contexts as motifs.
- The 'cootie' glyph can be found in "three-dimensional" form on San Lorenzo Monument 43.
See also
- San AndresSan Andrés (Mesoamerican site)San Andrés is an Olmec archaeological site in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Located 5 km northeast of the Olmec ceremonial center of La Venta, San Andrés is considered one of its elite satellite communities, with evidence of elite residences and other elite activities...
- an Olmec site where artifacts related to another proposed Olmec writing system have been found - OlmecOlmecThe Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
- Maya scriptMaya scriptThe Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs or Maya hieroglyphs, is the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered...
- Maya writing system
- Mesoamerican chronologyMesoamerican chronologyMesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
- San Lorenzo TenochtitlánSan Lorenzo TenochtitlánSan Lorenzo Tenochtitlán is the collective name for three related archaeological sites -- San Lorenzo, Tenochtitlán, and Potrero Nuevo -- located in the southeast portion of the Mexican state of Veracruz. From 1200 BCE to 900 BCE, it was the major center of Olmec culture...
External links
- “Oldest” New World writing found by Helen Briggs for BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 14 September 2006. - Oldest writing in the New World discovered in Veracruz, Mexico from EurekAlert, 14 September 2006.
- 3,000-year-old script on stone found in Mexico by John Noble Wilford for the New York Times, 15 September 2006.
- Writing May Be Oldest in Western Hemisphere by John Noble Wilford for the New York Times, 15 September 2006.
- Earliest New World Writing Discovered by Christopher Joyce for NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, 15 September 2006. - Unknown Writing System Uncovered On Ancient Olmec Tablet from Science a GoGo, 15 September 2006.
- Stone Slab Bears Earliest Writing in Americas by Andrew Bridges for AP, 15 September 2006.
- Analysis of Olmec Hieroglyphs by Michael EversonMichael EversonMichael Everson is a linguist, script encoder, typesetter, and font designer. His central area of expertise is with writing systems of the world, specifically in the representation of these systems in formats for computer and digital media...
, 18 September 2006. - The Cascajal Block: The Earliest Precolumbian Writing Joel Skidmore, Precolumbia Mesoweb Press, Accessed September 19, 2006.