Writing Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Mesoamerica=== A stone slab with 3,000-year-old writing, known as the [[Cascajal Block]], was discovered in the Mexican state of [[Veracruz]] and is an example of the oldest script in the Western Hemisphere, preceding the oldest [[Zapotec writing]] by approximately 500 years.<ref>{{cite news |first=John Noble |last=Wilford |author-link=John Noble Wilford |title=Writing May Be Oldest in Western Hemisphere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/science/15writing.html |quote=A stone slab bearing 3,000-year-old writing previously unknown to scholars has been found in the Mexican state of Veracruz, and archaeologists say it is an example of the oldest script ever discovered in the Western Hemisphere. |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=30 March 2008 |date=15 September 2006 |archive-date=27 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727145612/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/science/15writing.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Helen |last=Briggs |title='Oldest' New World writing found |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5347080.stm |quote=Ancient civilisations in Mexico developed a writing system as early as 900 BC, new evidence suggests. |publisher=BBC |access-date=30 March 2008 |date=14 September 2006 |archive-date=3 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403005953/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5347080.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rodríguez Martínez |first1=Maria del Carmen |last2=Ceballos |first2=Ponciano Ortíz |last3=Coe |first3=Michael D. |last4=Diehl |first4=Richard A. |last5=Houston |first5=Stephen D. |last6=Taube |first6=Karl A. |last7=Calderón |first7=Alfredo Delgado |title=Oldest Writing in the New World |journal=Science |date=15 September 2006 |volume=313 |issue=5793 |pages=1610–1614 |doi=10.1126/science.1131492 |pmid=16973873 |bibcode=2006Sci...313.1610R |s2cid=35140904 |quote=A block with a hitherto unknown system of writing has been found in the Olmec heartland of Veracruz, Mexico. Stylistic and other dating of the block places it in the early first millennium before the common era, the oldest writing in the New World, with features that firmly assign this pivotal development to the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica. }}</ref> It is thought to be [[Olmec]]. Of several [[pre-Columbian]] scripts in [[Mesoamerica]], the one that appears to have been best developed, and the only one to be deciphered, is the [[Maya script]]. The earliest inscription identified as Maya dates to the 3rd century BC.<ref name=Saturno2006>{{cite journal |last1=Saturno |first1=William A. |last2=Stuart |first2=David |last3=Beltrán |first3=Boris |title=Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala |journal=Science |date=3 March 2006 |volume=311 |issue=5765 |pages=1281–1283 |doi=10.1126/science.1121745 |pmid=16400112 |bibcode=2006Sci...311.1281S |s2cid=46351994 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Maya writing used logograms complemented by a set of syllabic glyphs, somewhat similar in function to modern Japanese writing. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page