c. 300 BCE – 250 CEReputable sourceWell documented
Writing in the Americas: Maya Glyphs
On the timeline · around c. 300 BCE – 250 CE ·
What happened
Entirely independently of the Old World, the Maya of Mesoamerica developed the most sophisticated writing system in the ancient Americas — a script combining logograms and sound-signs, carved on stone monuments and painted in bark-paper books. It could record their language fully, from history to astronomy.
Why it matters
Maya writing is one of only a handful of scripts in human history invented from scratch, and the only fully developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas — proof that the invention of writing arose more than once in human history.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Writing: The Preservation of Human Thought · Reputable source
Related timelines
- The Maya Civilization → — The great writing system of the ancient Americas