Historical story

Probably the oldest trace of the use of the Mayan calendar has been found

The Mayan calendar a decade ago aroused considerable emotions due to the predictions of the end of the world associated with it. Conducted in the so-called Central American archaeological work is increasingly leading to new discoveries related to it.

Recently, one of them was performed in one of the pyramids in Guatemala. The archaeological work that led to this is carried out at the site of San Bartolo (not to be confused with the same name, but referring to Peru), which is located in the jungle in the northern part of Guatemala. San Bartolo used to be an important regional Mayan center from around the 4th century B.C. by about 250 AD.

These two plaster wall fragments stacked together to record the "7 deer" date from the ancient Mayan 260-day calendar. Pieces that fit in a human hand could accompany a scene or a human figure as a kind of ancient time marker. foto / REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT SAN BARTOLO-XULTUN

It was there in 2001 that a buried chamber was discovered, in which numerous paintings depicting Mayan ceremonies as well as scenes from their mythology were found. However, returning to the above-mentioned pyramid:there were found two fragments of a wall painting with a reference to this famous calendar in the form of a glyph, on which the "7 deer" day was mentioned. This glyph dates back to the third century B.C., making it the oldest trace ever to use the Mayan calendar. For so far the earliest such traces are from the 1st century BC.

Unfortunately, the date "7 deer", one of the 260 days named in the Mayan calendar, is the only one that can be read from the fragments found. As David Stuart from the University of Texas recalls, the wall, part of which these fragments were, probably was intentionally destroyed by the ancient Maya, who decided to rebuild the then buildings. As a result of this reconstruction, the building eventually became a pyramid, some 30 meters high. Who knows what other secrets related to the Mayan calendar, but not only it hides?

Sources:

  1. Earliest evidence of Maya calendar found inside Guatemalan pyramid , https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/maya-calendar-guatemala-pyramid-intl-scli/index.html, accessed April 19, 2022.
  2. Gibbs, This hieroglyph is the oldest known record of the Maya calendar , https://www.sciencenews.org/article/maya-calendar-hieroglyph-date-oldest-evidence , access:April 19, 2022.