Inventions & Discoveries · Writing and counting

Maya script

3rd century BCE · 3rd century BCE · Also known as Maya glyphs, Maya hieroglyphs

Maya script, or Maya glyphs, is the writing system of the Maya civilisation of Mesoamerica, known from inscriptions of the 3rd century BCE at late Preclassic sites such as San Bartolo in Guatemala and Chakjobon in Mexico. It combined logograms with syllabic signs and was painted on pottery, walls and bark-paper codices or carved in stone and wood. Used until the Spanish conquest, it is the only Mesoamerican script substantially deciphered: over 90 per cent of texts can now be read with reasonable accuracy, after work by Yuri Knorozov and others.

Maya script
Image: Kwamikagami · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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First known
3rd century BCE
Where
San Bartolo (Guatemala) and Chakjobon (Mexico)

NoteIt was long thought that the Maya took writing from the Olmec or Epi-Olmec; murals found in 2005 make an independent invention possible.

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Mentioned in 2 profiles

Mesoamerican religionTexts, LegacyMaya civilisationOrigins

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Maya script. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/maya-script
MLA
“Maya script.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/maya-script. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Maya script.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/maya-script.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Maya script’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/maya-script (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻