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Science 19 March 1993:
Vol. 259. no. 5102, pp. 1703 - 1711
DOI: 10.1126/science.259.5102.1703
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Articles

A Decipherment of Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing

John S. Justeson 1 and Terrence Kaufman 2

1 Department of Anthropology, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222 visiting scientist at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
2 Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260

The decipherment of part of the epi-Olmec script of ancient Mexico, which yields the earliest currently readable texts in Mesoamerica, has been achieved over the last 2 years. This was made possible by the discovery of a stela with a long inscription at La Mojarra, Veracruz, Mexico, in 1986. This decipherment is based on both a reconstruction of the early stages of languages spoken in the region and semantic clues provided by comparison with cultural practices and other script traditions of early southern Mesoamerica. Summarized here is the current state of the phonetic decipherment, the methods used for the decipherment, and results concerning the epi-Olmec language and script. The language identified in the inscriptions is pre—proto-Zoquean, the ancestor of four languages now spoken in the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas, and Oaxaca. The decipherment contributes to knowledge of early Mixe-Zoquean language history. The script is more closely related to Mayan hieroglyphic writing than to other early Mesoamerican scripts, and this relation is closer than previously recognized.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala.
W. A. Saturno, D. Stuart, and B. Beltran (2006)
Science 311, 1281-1283
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Origins and Age of Deterrence: Comparative Research on Old World and New World Systems.
C. Cioffi-Revilla (1999)
Cross-Cultural Research 33, 239-264
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The Carved Stela from La Mojarra, Veracruz, Mexico.
G. E. Stuart (1993)
Science 259, 1700-1701
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