Ancient site · Temple
San Bartolo
A small Maya site in the Petén forest of Guatemala, northeast of Tikal. In 2001, inside the base of a pyramid, a team led by William Saturno found a room with brilliantly painted murals of about 100 BCE showing Maya creation myths, the Maize God and a king, among the oldest Maya murals known.
Fragments of painted plaster from about 300–200 BCE carry the earliest known Maya hieroglyphic writing, proving the script was in use centuries before the Classic period.
- Dates
- c. 400 BCE – 400 CE (murals c. 100 BCE)
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 17.55° N, 89.41° W
How we know
Its painted texts of about 300–200 BCE are the earliest known Maya writing; they can be dated but most signs cannot yet be read.
Nearby sites
- Tikal (early phase) first farmers c. 1000 BCE; major building from c. 400 BCE; abandoned c. 900 CE
- El Mirador main city c. 600 BCE – 150 CE (later reoccupied)
- Kaminaljuyu c. 1500 BCE – 1200 CE (peak c. 400–100 BCE)
- Paso de la Amada c. 1800–1000 BCE
- La Venta c. 1200–400 BCE (main centre c. 900–400 BCE)
- San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán Olmec centre c. 1400–900 BCE
Related
- Preclassic Maya archaeological culture
- The world in 400 BCE: Age of Philosophers chapter