Read Like an Olmec

The New York Times reports that "A stone slab bearing 3,000-year-old writing previously unknown to scholars has been found in the Mexican state of Veracruz, and archaeologists say it is an example of the oldest script ever discovered in the Western Hemisphere." The significance of this find is that it links the Olmec civilization--previously known for huge stone heads and monumental cities--to literacy.

Unknown writing systems are rarely discovered, with the last being the Indus Valley script, which was discovered during excavations in 1924.

Scholars can't read the Mexican glyphs, but the text "conforms to all expectations of writing" and reflects "patterns of language, with the probable presence of syntax and language-dependent word orders."

More about the discovery is in an article in the 15 September 2006 issue of Science, written by the scientists who found the text.