Writing Systems in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica



Introduction
The indigenous populations of Central Mexico had a number of well-established writing systems that preceded the arrival of Spanish explorers by over a thousand years. As early as 3000 B.C., with the onset of the Formative period, elaborate and conventionalized symbol systems appeared throughout Mesoamerica. The pictorial icons that comprised these early writing systems were apparently elements of artistic representations that came to be isolated and sequentially ordered to communicate particular ideas. The similarity of the written characters from many areas during this era suggests that the symbols were mutually intelligible across diverse regions. Their widespread occurrence may be the result of the synthesis of spreading political and religious influences that accompanied trade goods between a number of Formative cultures including, but not limited to, the Olmec of the Veracruz coastal region. The earliest inscriptions appeared as a compliment to religious and political images on architectural and sculptural monuments and may have served to validate or enhance the status of the ruling and religious elite.

Over 15 distinct Mesoamerican writing systems have been identified, some known only from a single inscription. Many of the systems are rudimentary and highly pictorial such as Aztec and Mixtec with the text used to record dates and the names of protagonists. Other traditions, such as the logophonetic script of the Maya, consist of symbols that denote morphemes (minimal units of meaning) and other characters that stand for sounds, usually syllables. These more complex writing systems document both earthly and heavenly events ranging from the dynastic successions of kings to conversations between gods.

The past 35 years have seen dramatic advances in the decipherment of Mesoamerican writing systems have been made by scholars in Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Europe. Working with inscriptions on monuments and portable artifacts, surviving scrolls, and conquest era descriptions written by Spanish clergymen combined with the analysis of modern indigenous languages, scholars have begun to piece together an understanding of the written word in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The decipherment of texts and inscriptions provides us with new insights into Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, even if at times that perspective is shaped by the political ambitions of the ruling elite.

This pathfinder is a guide for undergraduate students, beginning graduate students, and interested adults into selected written and electronic information sources on Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican writing systems available in the SUNY Albany library system. Source materials include printed documents such as encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and important books and journal articles as well as a select group of digital sources available on the Internet. Print resources are listed in chronologic order.

Table of Contents

Search Aides

Library of Congress Subject Headings
The Library of Congress subject headings relevant to Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican writing systems can be divided into two categories; one includes subject headings that retrieve a breadth of material on Pre-Columbian writing in Mexico, while the other focuses on specific language families.

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Indexes and Abstracts
The subject headings listed in the previous section can serve as search terms in the following indexes and abstracts to access to journal articles on Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican writing systems. With the exception of the Social Sciences Citation Index, all of the listed resources are available online through the library website http://library.albany.edu/databases/search.asp. Social Sciences Citation Index is available in print in the Dewey Library located at the downtown campus.
Anthropological Literature
Art Index
Arts & Humanities Citation Index
Digital Dissertations
EBSCO
Humanities Abstracts
InfoTrac
International Bibliography of Social Sciences
Social Sciences Abstract
Social Sciences Citation Index - ULIB Call#: DEWEY REF H 1 Z999 S63

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Journal Sources for Articles and Reviews
Articles on recent research in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican writing systems, as well as relevant book reviews, can be found in the following journals:

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Resource Locations and Browsing
Most of the materials listed in this pathfinder are located in the SUNY Albany University Library (ULIB). Two of the journals in which listed articles appear, Science and Scientific American, are located in the Science Library. Both the University and Science libraries are located in the Uptown Campus. Resource call numbers prefaced by REF are located in the reference area; PER prefaces indicate location in the periodicals area. All of the books are located in the library stacks with the exception of the geographic source which is located in the Grenander Special Collection, located on the third floor of the Science Library at the uptown campus.

Browsing areas for materials on writing systems, in general, and Pre-Columbian writing systems, in particular, are spread across several Library of Congress classification designations.

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General Resources

Encyclopedias and Handbooks
Encyclopedias and handbooks provide an entry point into the origins of writing, the structure of writing systems, and writing in pre-Hispanic Mexico in general as well as an overview of Mesoamerican prehistory. Bibliographies appear at the end of most of the articles in these sources.

Writing Systems and the Origins of Writing

Mesoamerican Prehistory and Epigraphy

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Geographic Sources
This source provides maps on the distribution of the indigenous languages of post-conquest Mexico and gives a perspective on the range of Mexico's linguistic variation.

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General Overviews

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Language Groups

Zapotec
Zapotec inscriptions from the Oaxacan site of San Jose Mogote dating to 500 B.C. make this script one of the earliest known in Mesoamerica. Zapotec script pre-dates and may be ancestral to Mixtec writing from the same geographic area. It documents more than calendrical notations and appears to have had more narrative content, similar to Mayan rather than later Mixtec and Aztec.

  • Marcus, Joyce. "Zapotec Writing." Scientific American 242, no. 2 (February 1980): 50-64.
    UALB Call#: SCIENCE Per T 1 S5
    Joyce Marcus shows how place glyphs incised in stone at Monte Alban, Oaxaca, can be matched with equivalents listed in early 16th century Aztecs tribute rolls.

  • Urcid, Javier. Zapotec Hieroglyphic Writing. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2000.
    UALB Call#: ULIB E 51 S85
    Urcid rejects an evolutionary approach, instead advocating the contextual reconstruction of monuments as 'narrative compositions' that were dismantled, asserting that 'previous studies...invariably have failed to recognize reuse' (p. 25). Urcid argues that external comparisons (e.g. Marcus 1992) obliterate variation, with scholars fitting data to preconceived schemes...Urcid focuses on the calendar and the identification of Zapotec day names from Córdova's 16th-century dictionary on Classic period and earlier carved stones. --Antiquity 76 (Summer 2002). Andrew Balkansky, reviewer.

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Epi-Olmec
The 1986 discovery of an inscribed stone slab in the Acula River near the village of Mojarra in the Mexican state of Veracruz, set the stage for the decipherment of one of Mesoamerica's earliest writing systems. This logophonetic text is structurally similar to Mayan and appeared as early as 100 B.C. Often referred to as Epi-Olmec, some scholars call it the La Mojarra script after the most famous and longest text. It is also known as the Isthmian Script, after the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. All three names are used in publications, articles, books, and webpages.

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Mayan
Of all the Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican scripts, Classic period Mayan inscriptions are the most numerous and include many lengthy narrative accounts inscribed on architectural features and painted on ceramic vessels. The history of the decipherment of the logophonetic Mayan script is long and colorful, marked by major breakthroughs in the 1970s and 1980s. The following list provides entry points into the major themes in the study of Mayan inscriptions including the history of decipherment, script structure and grammar, and how interpretations of Mayan inscriptions have influenced our understanding of Classic Mayan culture.

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Classic Period Teotihuacan
These publications discuss the evidence for an emergent writing system that appeared on monuments and portable items from Teotihuacan, the Central Mexican Classic Period urban center.

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Aztec and Mixtec
Both the Mixtec and Aztec writing systems are logographic, consisting of a combination of written signs and pictures. The few surviving pre-conquest Mixtec manuscripts, written on deerskin and known as codices, allow us to trace the history of this Oaxacan group back to 940 A.D. This is possible due to the presence of Mixtec and Georgian calendar dates on the same post-conquest documents. No pre-Conquest codices from Central Mexico exist due to the Aztecs' aggressive campaign to destroy manuscripts of the neighboring states they conquered and, in turn, the burning of Aztec codices by the Spanish. All existing Aztec manuscripts were written after Conquest with a mixture of Aztec symbols and Spanish words.

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Other Resources

Web Resources

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This pathfinder was compiled by Christine A. Rudecoff,
a graduate student in the School of Information Science and Policy
State University of New York at Albany
Comments and suggestions may be sent to cr8474@albany.edu