Mayan hieroglyphic writingArticle Free Pass Mayan hieroglyphic
writing, system of writing used by the Maya people of
Mesoamerica until about the end of the 17th century, 200 years
after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. (With the 21st-century
discovery of the Mayan site of San Bartolo in Guatemala came
evidence of Mayan writing that pushed back its date of origin to
at least 300 or 200 bc.) It was the only true writing system
developed in the pre-Columbian Americas. Mayan inscriptions are
found on stelae (standing stone slabs), stone lintels,
sculpture, and pottery, as well as on the few surviving Mayan
books, or codices. The Mayan system of writing contains more
than 800 characters, including some that are hieroglyphic and
other phonetic signs representing syllables. The hieroglyphic
signs are pictorial—i.e., they are recognizable pictures of real
objects—representing animals, people, and objects of daily life.
Until the mid-20th century, very little Mayan writing could be
deciphered except for the symbols rep