Earliest writing found in Central America
In: Legendary Times, No. 1 / 2008, Beatenberg, Switzerland, 2008
Again and again led the discovery of Characters in Central America and the tabloid back-dating the time when there was the first writing developed. In September 2006, stunned the media world with a new headline oldest Mesoamerican writing, this time displayed on the so-called Cascajal stone. The discovery of these characters is not only of enormous importance for archeology, but also for the Paleo-SETI research.
A few years ago was under the opinion of American Studies, writing in Mesoamerica had developed only in the aftermath of the Olmec culture. As the earliest characters finds from Oaxaca, were the one in BC, the time from 300. had dated. In 1998 a team of archaeologists led by Mary Pohl, Kevin Pope and Christopher von Nagy in San Andres with excavations.
San Andres was just over 3000 years been a sort of suburb of La Venta, and belonged to the second phase of Olmekenkultur from about 900 BC. A typical rural settlement could not have been San Andres, for here were excavated large serving measures and much more drinking and above all storage vessels than for the size of the settlement would have been necessary. Digging in the former homes, the researchers made an unexpected and sensational discovery. They found a rolling cylinder that was apparently characters, and at another point, two fragments of a Greenstone plaque was engraved on the characters had. (1 + 2)
rolling cylinder of San Andres + green stone fragments from San Andres
Olmecs, about 900 BC.
first dated the excavation team finds this to around 300 BC. To match the time frame, which defined the Oaxaca-writing as the oldest. Then, when the finds were dated in the laboratory using a radiocarbon tests turned out to the amazement of the scientists that these characters more than three hundred years older (1 + 2). Four years later
The team published the findings in the journal Science thereby, at least in the professional world, a sensation of (3). If the Olmecs have used a font so early? Just now one had marveled at over 2,000-year-old glyphs and calendar data in Tres Zapotes, Chiapa de Corzo and El Mirador - many of the found there characters each had a certain amount of time claimed for that to be the oldest known Long Cont-date Central America - then we had made friends with the idea that there are already 300 v-Chr. had been in Oaxaca characters. But now there was suddenly a font that was hundreds of years older!
The drawing of a Unwinding of the cylinder from San Andres shows this: There comes a text emerges from a bird's beak, reminiscent of the speech of modern comics. Kevin Pope was convinced that this speech should be represented. We see plainly that later used by the Maya character "Ahau" for "ruler", combined with three points = Three Ahau. Three Ahau can be either a name label and a day name of the 260-day calendar. Besides these two characters we see a kind of inverted "U", whose meaning is unknown. Under this sign then an elongated "m" - a forerunner of the Mayan sky band. Furthermore, there is a line, a hook and signs that the Sprachvoluten the later manuscripts remember (1 + 2).
rollout of the cylinder from San Andres
No one yet has any idea what this cylinder seal was once used. The archaeologists made several suggestions: Was it a royal seal, or was it a punch for everyday items? Kevin Pope suspected that the Olmecs may have used ink and powder, then rolling the cylinder over a surface of a piece of cloth or bark paper or on bare skin (1 + 2).
The two greenstone fragments of characters were found in the district of San Andres', where the oversized Getränkeserviergefäße camped. We see the following characters: a double oval with a point and a camera encircles "sky symbol with two lines underneath. The double-oval is reminiscent of a later day signs of the Maya (1 + 2).
In La Venta itself there were other examples of characters. They were on a monument, and on an altar or throne (or what ever decorated this presents stone block). On the altar we see a face with a mask, along with a human figure with three round-rectangular glyphs coming out from the mouth. Here is are probably the same language as shown on the roll cylinders of San Andres. Artifacts with similar characters as in La Venta Olmec were also found in other places, all at the same time the city (4).
early as 2002, Mary Pohl was not alone in their assumption that the beginning of the Book Central America must be dated much earlier. had you think the Olmec may already have a font in San Lorenzo (2). San Lorenzo was the first city that the Olmecs right after her sudden and inexplicable cultural leap - from Stone Age farmers to high culture - built around 1200 BC. (5). No evidence had been found for this conjecture, but the cylinder seal and greenstone plaque from San Andres had shown that the main components of the Central American publication here already existed: a combination of pictographic and glyphischen elements and the use of the 260-day calendar and a combination of text and calendar. Evidence of precursors of this document or evidence of a trend towards her were never found. Where is this script had developed? The archaeologists were puzzled.
But then came the Cascajal stone. 1999 workers found in a quarry in southern Vera Cruz, Mexico, once again many artifacts. The quarry was recovered in the material for road construction, was located near the settlement of Lomas de Tacamichapa and included an archaeological site - Cascajal - who had suffered through years of mining work already badly.
Here they found themselves right in the heartland of Olmekenkultur and within sight of the ruins of the first Olmec San Lorenzo. Here, in Cascajal, there were two settlements: one at the time of San Lorenzo between 1200 - 900 BC, then again much later during the so-called Terminal Classic period between 800 - AD 900th. The four mounds and a plaza, through which the construction mercilessly moved through, came from the Terminal Classic period.
were at this place many times artifacts have been found, but this time was such an exceptional Fund including, that a few authority of the near Jaltipan decided to report it to the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico. They called and came to talk to Carmen Rodriguez Martinez and Ponciano Ortiz, an archaeologist couple.
The two researchers traveled in April 1999 on the archaeological site to examine the inscribed stone and photograph. They were at first perplexed and bewildered, but then really shocked when they realized that this piece was found along with artifacts that came clearly from the time San Lorenzo - and thus from the earliest period of the Central American cultures. Purely legal point of view was the stone of the settlement, on the grounds he had been found, but it allowed the scientists like to study it and analyze in the laboratory.
As gradually became clear that what was a sensational find for you to do it here, the two researchers looked for years on site for more artifacts in the hope of finding more fragments of characters. In vain. At the same time they invited several colleagues and experts to assist them in investigating the Cascajal-stone. They turned to Koriphäen like Michael Coe, Stephen Houston, Richard Diehl and other experts in ancient writings and the Olmec culture. These researchers were surprised and perplexed: If you really here have found the oldest characters in Mesoamerica? It now had to answer two main questions: the time from which the stone was taken? And what was written on the stone?
The stone is a 36 times 21 times 13 cm large block of greenish serpentine, he weighs about 12 pounds and has five convex and concave side. The labeled, slightly curved inward side, the research team had two explanations: either this page was prepared to label and has been smoothed or - and this sounded much more exciting - have been there several times applied to characters, then removed and new signs have been engraved. A forerunner of the modern pad - so quipped a the archaeologists. Stephen Houston enthused: "This is crazy I've never seen anything like that!" (6)
The Cascajal stone: the right is a sketch of the engraved characters
The text consists of 28 different characters, a total of a 62-character text yielding. These characters seem to be standardized and organized word, or similar groups to be set. Stephen Houston, who analyzed the document in detail, said: "The linear arrangement, the regularity of the characters and the clear pattern of order telling me that this is a font, but we do not know what it says. "(7)
The signs are in horizontal rows, and that is exceptional because it is unusual for Central American texts. The reading and writing direction of characters is still not entirely clear. Some characters look like fish, insects, plants, shells, beads and more. Some of the characters are unique in that they occur nowhere else in the text. The character number 11 (see Figure) is similar to the later band Heaven Mark, while the characters remember 24 and 25 in the opinion of Karl A. Taube of a motif that is found on Olmec axes and represents a stylized human face of a Jaguar or God. The characters are 12, 16 and 20 are in motifs on monuments at San Lorenzo (8).
The team had even found out that this text had been applied by one person, but with two different tools. A blunt instrument had been used for the contour lines, while a sharper stone tools had been used for the finer details within the script.
Since the text has not yet been deciphered, the researchers speculate now, what he could offer. A tradition? The description of an important event? Or has an economic background and the text is a list of things, the construction or transport of goods on? Particularly the lack of associated images or representations makes the deciphering of the text heavy (8). Michael Coe, said with resignation, it is unlikely that the text could ever be read. "Something like this is difficult enough when one has hundreds of pieces, and we have only one!" (7)
the researchers were in agreement, especially on one point: there is no doubt that this is a real font is, and not an iconography unrelated to a language. The anthropologist Saturno, who analyzed the stone also said: "This is written language." (9) "We knew that the Olmec a very sophisticated art and iconography had," said Karl A. Taube, "but this is the first real evidence that they had heard of written language." (9)
But how old was this stone? Did he really the oldest characters in Central America? The first was based on dating of the artifacts, with whom he had been found: pottery shards, fragments and pieces of stone from Lehmfigurinen objects. All of these artifacts came clearly from the San Lorenzo-time between 1200 - BC 900th However, there were voices among other scientists who criticized this place in time. The stone, so they threw one, was not found within a professional excavation by archaeologists and therefore "in situ", but of workers of the quarry. David Grove, said the stone look like a fake, because the characters are arranged in horizontal rows, which is absolutely unusual for Central American texts (10).
But a forgery can be excluded in the opinion of the team to Carmen Rodriguez. The researchers analyzed the stone thoroughly in the laboratories of the Institute and found signs of weathering and mineralization in the engraved lines. The labeled surface shows different patina. Richard Diehl said, is representative of the team: "My colleagues and I are absolutely Agreeing that the stone is authentic." (6) One could assume that the writing on the American continent was adopted on the Mexican Gulf coast, where the Olmecs built on their cultural leap San Lorenzo and lived through a first phase of culture. The research result also fits the fact that the stone was found in the immediate vicinity of San Lorenzo.
But why were not found more examples of writing from the time of San Lorenzo? The archaeologists believe the lie might be that a rule was written on wood or bark paper, materials that could not survive to this day. The fact that the Olmec were working with wood, see the busts, which were found near San Lorenzo in a well of El Manati - the only wooden artifacts of the Olmecs. These all have an abnormally long skull, as we do not know it from our heads, and how it has represented the Olmec at San Lorenzo and over again on the stone and as a figurine. Fact is, before jumping culture and the construction of San Lorenzo was not a "Langschädler" represented, although the Stone Age farmers already produced figurines out of clay. The motive appeared simultaneously with the cultural leap, as well as that of the so-called Jaguar people. A very bold speculation now would be this: here were portraits of the unknown master planner who helped the Stone Age farmers a cultural leap? The wooden busts of El Manati had apparently survived only because they were preserved in water and mud lying were (11).
However, there may be more written examples of this kind, we know only now be classified according to the finding of the Cascajal Stone. So said Stephen Houston: "My colleagues and I recently found a small clay figure of human form, were on the back of signs of the same font as on the Cascajal stone, the meaning we could not see before this discovery." (6) Houston believes that the deficiency could decrease analyzed Olmec characters from the era of the fact that it was in the region around San Lorenzo and the simultaneous outpost first excavated relatively little (7).
What the Cascajal stone so exciting, makes is the fact that we are dealing here with an entirely new font that is not related to other known writings of Central America. This work, and now it is really exciting, was only and exclusively at the San Lorenzo-time application of the Olmecs. Neither are there any signs of where this document may have developed - it was apparently just as suddenly as simple as the knowledge of the Olmecs in architecture, mathematics, astronomy, geometry, measurement technology. logistics, etc. - nor has this writing spread and developed. So from about 900 BC - In La Venta. - So a script was no longer applied. Archaeologists find
it mysterious that the typeface apparently only during the time of the San Lorenzo Olmec was used. In this sense the writing on the Cascajal stone another mosaic in the image on the enigmatic culture of the Olmecs jump. In my article "The Count of San Lorenzo (5) I have already shown that such a cultural leap, started in the stone age farmers from one day to another, to build a pre-planned drawing board, city, produced in workshops strange mass-produced and astronomically all their buildings to network with each other, not is conceivable without us higher standing unknown master planner that caused this cultural leap. suddenly Similarly, such as San Lorenzo began, it ended again: unknown abruptly us from reason.
And now it looks as though the writing began as suddenly and had been after the end of San Lorenzo never applied more. The writing samples from La Venta are quite different in nature and are not successors of the signs of Cascajal Stone. Funny thing is that were made in La Venta, hundreds and hundreds of large rectangular block read Serpentintafeln. Instead of writing it, they buried the Olmecs systematic and well organized in different places several meters below the ground in the middle of town in places that fit the mathematical and astronomical oriented layout.
The archaeologists, which dealt with the Cascajal stone, are agreed that this aspect of the radical understanding of Olmekenkultur changing. This finding gives new impetus to the study of the Olmecs. Michael Coe enthused: "All that we call Mesoamerican began with the Olmecs." For the cultural leap itself but the archaeologists have absolutely no explanation. No one knows where the sudden expertise in architecture, astronomy, etc. came and no one now knows where or how this publication has been developed. Apparently she was just "there" like all the other aspects of the cultural leap.
I would like to go a step further than Michael Coe and say: All that we call Mesoamerican began with a sudden and unidentified, high-triggered initiators cultural leap.
my opinion, the finding raises the Cascajal-stone no more light on the beginning of the Olmekenkultur, but makes this even more puzzling. Mary Pohl, who at that time was the rolling cylinder and the green stone fragments, is the find "a major discovery of great significance" and represents a confirmation of their former assumption: From the beginning, had - developed not and used the stone age farmers after their Culture jump a scripture .
The archaeologists, who analyzed the Cascajal stone and explored, now want to search the area around San Lorenzo dig for examples and further correspondence. Secretly hope some of them forward to one day find a kind of counterpart to the Rosetta stone, which helped in the decipherment of Egyptian known Hieroglpyhen.
Hopefully Paleo-SETI researchers with them. Who knows, could have the significance of the contents of the text on the Cascajal stone for our research direction?
Literature:
1 = Pohl, Mary, Christopher von Nagy / Allison Perry / Kevin Pope: Olmec Civilization at San Andres, Tabasco, Mexico. Report for the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc., August 2004
2 = Pohl, Mary / Kevin Pope, Christopher von Nagy: Olmec Origins of Mesoamerican Writing. www.anthro.fsu.edu / research / meso / Pohltext.doc
3 = www.BelizeFreePress.com / news 8th December 2002
4 = Kent Reilly III. F.: Influence on the Olmec Iconographic Symbols of Maya Rulership. 6th Round Table: Olmec Influence on Maya. www.mesoweb.com/pari/publications/RT08/14olmec/text.html
5 = Ermel, Gisela: The Count of San Lorenzo. In: Legendary Zeiten, Nr. 2, Beatenberg 2006
6 = Choi, Charles Q.: Oldest New World Text Found. 14. September 2006,
7 = Abramson, Anna: Anthro Prof Helps Date Oldest Writing Sample in Western Hemisphere. In: The Brown Daily Herald, 3. Oktober 2006
8 = Skidmore, Joel: The Cascajal Block: Earliest Precolumbian Writing.
10 = Oldest Writing in New World Discovered, Scientists Say. In: National Geographic News,
14th September 2006
11 = Ortiz, Ponciano / M. del Carmen Rodriguez: Olmec Ritual Behavior at El Manati: A Sacred Space. In: David Grove / Rosemary A. Joyce: Social Patterns in Pre-Classic Mesoamerica. Washington DC 1999
More about Central American culture leap, Olmecs, etc.:
Ancient mail Verlag, 2007 Gross Gerau
ISBN 978-3935910446
278 pages, numerous illustrations
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