THE first written language in the New World was developed in south-eastern Mexico by a civilisation known as the Olmecs. That dates the emergence of early American writing to 650 BC, at least 350 years earlier than the original best guess.
For a long time archaeologists believed that the Zapotecs developed writing in the Americas some time between 300 BC and AD 200. Writing on a Zapotec monument from this time formed the basis of characters used in later cultures, including the Mayans who dominated Mesoamerica from 250 BC to AD 1200.
But excavations from an ancient festival site at San Andres, an Olmec town in the Mexican state of Tabasco, suggest written language was common much earlier. Mary Pohl and her team of anthropologists at Florida State University in Tallahassee discovered a fist-sized ceramic seal and fragments of a plaque at the site that they carbon-dated to 650 BC.
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On the cylindrical seal were two symbols or 鈥済lyphs鈥� linked by two lines to the mouth of a bird (see Graphic). By comparing the glyphs to those used by later cultures, Pohl found that one of the glyphs meant 鈥渒ing鈥� while the other was a date known as 鈥�3-Ajaw鈥� from the 260-day Mesoamerican calendar (Science, vol 298, p 1984). The date was probably the king鈥檚 name, a common practice at the time. Later civilisations also indicated speech with lines between symbols and a figure鈥檚 mouth.
The cylindrical seal could be covered with ink or paint and rolled onto fabric or people鈥檚 skin to print the bird and symbols. The use of writing to pledge allegiance contrasts with Old World writing dating back to 3000 BC, which was developed largely for keeping track of accounts.
People in San Andres probably wore the imprint to show allegiance to the king in La Venta, the main Olmec city nearby, says Pohl.