Altar Q, a Mayan monument carved approximately 1,300 years ago in Honduras, may reveal a code that has eluded scientists until now.
A recent study suggests that the hand signs depicted on this altar are not mere gestures, but a true coded language related to the Mayan calendar. This interpretation opens new perspectives on the complexity of Mayan civilization and its writing systems.
The Mayan Altar Q, dating from the 8th century, may encode important calendar dates through hand signs.
Image Wikimedia
The altar, dating from the 8th century AD, features sixteen rulers of Copán, each with specific hand gestures accompanied by hieroglyphs. Rich Sandoval, a linguistic anthropologist at Metropolitan State University of Denver, analyzed these elements in a study published in
Transactions of the Philological Society. He claims that these hand signs constitute a second script in the Mayan writing system, complementing traditional hieroglyphs. This discovery shows increased sophistication in written communication among the Maya.
The hand signs appear to represent dates in the Mayan Long Count calendar, a system based on cycles of days. For example, a date like 9.19.10.0.0 corresponds to specific units: the b'ak'tun (period of 144,000 days), the k'atun, the tun, the uinal, and the k'in (one day). Sandoval identified two signs resembling the number zero in hieroglyphs, which allowed him to decipher four important dates engraved on the different sides of the altar.
These dates are associated with key events in the Copán dynasty, such as the death of the first and last ruler. The study highlights the importance of the number 16, recurring in the inscriptions, and links each date to rituals or deities. However, this interpretation is contested by some experts, who consider it implausible without additional evidence.
This research could inspire future studies to decipher other Mayan artifacts and better understand their rich culture.
The Mayan Long Count calendar
The Mayan Long Count calendar is a dating system used by the Mayan civilization to record events over long periods. It consists of five time units: the k'in (one day), the uinal (20 days), the tun (360 days), the k'atun (7,200 days), and the b'ak'tun (144,000 days). These units are combined to form precise dates, such as 9.19.10.0.0, which indicates the number of each unit elapsed since a reference date.
The Maya believed that time was cyclical, with creation periods ending after 13 b'ak'tuns. The end of a cycle, such as that of December 21, 2012, was considered a time of transformation and renewal. This calendar was essential for planning rituals, royal events, and agricultural activities, reflecting their advanced understanding of astronomy.
Unlike our linear Gregorian calendar, the Long Count calendar allowed events to be placed over millennia, offering a unique historical perspective. It was often carved on monuments in combination with other calendar systems, such as the 260-day ritual calendar.
Today, archaeologists continue to decipher these dates to reconstruct Mayan history, revealing details about their social organization, beliefs, and decline around the 10th century.