Scientists in Guatemala believe they have found the earliest example of the Mayan calendar inside the remains of an ancient building.
The archeologists found pictures, called glyphs, from a Mayan pyramid.The glyph represents the day called "7 deer." It is one of 260 days with special names in the Mayan calendar.
The researchers believe the glyph is over 2,200 years old.It shows the Mayan writing for the number seven above a picture of an animal called a deer.
The picture came from a wall painting inside the pyramid known as Las Pinturas.It is in San Bartolo, an ancient Mayan place that became famous in 2001 when archaeologists found a buried room that contained colorful wall paintings, or murals.
Those murals are thought to be about 2,100 years old.They show images of ceremonies and the ancient stories of the Mayan people.
The deer glyph came from the same Las Pinturas pyramid.But it is older.
Researchers believe the Mayans built smaller religious structures and then built the pyramids on top of them.
David Stuart is a professor of Central American art and writing from the University of Texas.He wrote about the discovery in the publication Science Advances.
He said the pieces from the mural fit in your hand, but they were once attached to a stone wall.He said the wall was torn down when the ancient workers were building the newer space that became the pyramid.
He said the paintings from the older period are all broken up, unlike the newer murals found in 2001.
Until the discovery, the oldest known example of the Mayan calendar came from about 2,100 years ago.
The calendar is thought to be one of the top achievements of Mayan culture.It followed the movement of the sun, moon and planets and was based on a 260-day cycle.The Mayans also counted time based on the sun and considered one year to be 365 days.There was also a system based on the moon.
The Mayans had a system of 800 glyphs.The earliest examples come from San Bartolo in the forest of northern Guatemala.The place was important to early Mayan society for over 600 years, until about 1,800 years ago.
About 7,000 mural pieces have been found at San Bartolo.Some are as small as a fingernail, and others are over 400 square centimeters.
Heather Hurst of Skidmore College in New York state is a co-writer of the study.She called the pieces a "giant jigsaw puzzle."
The notation of "7 deer" and other calendar glyphs are shown on 11 mural pieces from San Bartolo.Researchers say that means the calendar was in use for a long time before the murals were built.
As a result, Hurst believes older examples of glyphs from the calendar might be found in other places.Hurst said the cultures "well-established tradition of writing and art" shown on the mural pieces was "impressive."
Some Mayan communities still use the ancient calendar.
Stuart said the calendar has been used for at least 2,200 years, even during times of "incredible change, stress and tragedy."
翻译：
危地马拉科学家认为，他们在一座古建筑的遗迹中发现了最早的玛雅历法。
考古学家在玛雅金字塔上发现了一幅被称为象形文字的图画。象形文字代表象形文字。“七只鹿”这一天是玛雅日历中有特殊名字的260天之一。
研究人员认为，这种类型已有2200多年的历史，显示了玛雅人在一张名为鹿的动物的照片中写的7个数字。
这幅画来自一幅名为拉斯平图拉斯的金字塔壁画。它位于圣巴托罗，一个古老的玛雅遗址。2001年，考古学家发现这幅壁画埋在地下房间里。
这些壁画有大约2100年的历史，展现了当时的仪式场景和玛雅人的古老故事。
鹿的象形文字来自同一个拉斯皮图拉斯金字塔，但更古老。
研究人员认为，玛雅人先是修建了较小的宗教建筑，然后在上面修建了金字塔。
大卫·斯图尔特是德克萨斯大学中美艺术与写作教授，他在《科学进步》中发表了这一发现。
他说壁画上的碎片非常适合手持，但它们曾经固定在一堵石墙上，在古代工人建造金字塔时被拆除。
他说，与2001年发现的新壁画不同，这些早期的壁画已经被粉碎。
在这一发现之前，已知的最古老的玛雅历法来自大约2100年前。
这一历法被认为是玛雅文化的最高成就之一，它遵循太阳、月亮和行星的运动，以260天为一个周期。玛雅人也认为每年365天。还有一个以月球为核心的系统。
玛雅人有800个象形文本系统。最早的样本来自危地马拉北部森林的圣巴托罗。直到1800年前，这个地方才成为玛雅社会的重要组成部分。
在圣巴托罗发现了大约7000幅壁画。有的像指甲一样小，有的超过400平方厘米。
希瑟在纽约斯基德莫尔学院·赫斯特是这项研究的合作者。她称这些残片为。“巨大的拼图”。
圣巴托罗的11幅壁画显示“7只鹿”还有其他历法符号。研究人员说，这意味着日历在壁画建造之前已经使用了很长时间。
因此，赫斯特认为日历中更古老的符号可能会在其他地方找到。赫斯特说，壁画中展示的文化“良好的写作和艺术传统”让人“印象深刻”。
一些玛雅社区仍然使用古老的历法。
斯图尔特说，这个日历至少已经使用了2200年，甚至在那里，“令人难以置信的变化、压力和不幸”时期也是如此。