An article in SCIENCE this week [September 15 2006, 313 (5793)] reports the discovery of a stone block believed to be about 3,000 years old (dating to ~900 B.C.E). The block has chiseled into it a series of glyphs thought to be the earliest writing in the Western Hemisphere, and is attributed to the Olmec civilization. The Olmecs pre-dated the Maya and Aztec cultures of Central America. The block of text has yet to be disciphered, and it may never be – until a Rosetta Stone equivalent is found. The discovery of a new form of (ancient) writing is a rare event, so this is a major find.
Interestingly, the block was found by workers in Veracruz, Mexico while building a road. Unfortunately is was not left in place, but was brought to a local antiquities official along with some shards of pottery also found. This was back in 1999, and the official kept the pieces in his house all this time. While it is fortunate that the workers saved the block rather than using it for fill, it is unfortunate that it now has to be studied “out of context”, as it were. Plans are in place to go back to the site of discovery to hopefully find more artifacts.
