Scientists in Guatemala believe they have found the earliest example of the Mayan(玛雅人的) calendar inside the remains of an ancient building. The archeologists(考古学家) found fragments(碎片) of glyphs(石雕符号) from a Mayan pyramid. One glyph representing the day called “7 deer” was found. It is one of 260 days with special names in the Mayan calendar. The researchers believe this 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 fragments 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(壁画). 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 fragments 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.
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