Olmec Inscription
Posted by Kevin A. Wilson on 15 Sep 2006 10:01 am. Filed under History.
The New York Times is reporting that the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico has announced the discovery of a stone slab bearing the oldest known inscription in North America.
The slab, containing sixty-two different signs, dates from about 900 BCE, which makes it 400 years earlier than any other inscription from the Americas. They suggest that the writing is Olmec, a culture from which we have no other writings. The Olmec civilization emerged about 1200 BCE and lasted until 400 BCE, roughly the same time as the ancient Israelite states (c.1000 - 587 BCE). The oldest known Hebrew inscription is the recently discovered Tel Zayit inscription from the 10th century BCE.