VOA新闻杂志--科研人员发现了玛雅历法的最早证据

Researchers Find Oldest Examples of Mayan Time-Keeping System

Scientists in Guatemala believe they have found the earliest example of the Mayan calendar inside the remains¹ 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 publication² 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 planets³ 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 jigsaw⁴ puzzle."

The notation⁵ 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 culture's "well-established tradition of writing and art" shown on the mural pieces was "impressive⁶."

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 "incredible⁷ change, stress and tragedy."

Words in This Story

calendar –n. a system for organizing the days of the year by month

archeologist –n. a scientist who studies past human life by looking at bones, tools and structures of ancient people

pyramid – n. a large structure with a square base and sides shaped like triangles

achievement – n. something that has been done or created through great effort and hard work

cycle – n. a series of events that happen again and again

jigsaw puzzle – n. a game made of small pieces cut into shapes that fit together to form a picture

stress – n. a state of mental tension⁸ and worry caused by problems and difficulties

tragedy – n. a sad or terrible event

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 publication   

n.出版，发行；出版；公布，发表

参考例句：

• They don't think this article is suitable for publication.他们认为这篇文章不宜发表。
• The government has delayed publication of the trade figures.政府已将贸易统计数字延后公布。

3 planets   

行星( planet的名词复数 )； 地球（尤指环境）

参考例句：

• Does life exist on other planets? 其他行星上有生命吗？
• the planets of our solar system 太阳系的行星

4 jigsaw   

n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接

参考例句：

• A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
• Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。

5 notation   

n.记号法，表示法，注释；[计算机]记法

参考例句：

• Music has a special system of notation.音乐有一套特殊的标记法。
• We shall find it convenient to adopt the following notation.采用下面的记号是方便的。

6 impressive   

adj.给人深刻印象的，感人的

参考例句：

• This cinema is so impressive that we can't help crying.这影片如此感人以至我们禁不住流下泪来。
• The suit made him look especially impressive.他穿上这套衣服真精神。

7 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

8 tension   

n.(紧张)状态；拉(绷)紧；张力，拉力

参考例句：

• I could feel the tension in the room. 我可以感觉到房间里的紧张气氛。
• Relaxaion is better than tension. 缓和比紧张好。