No doomsday predicted in oldest Mayan calendar yet found
New York - American scientists have discovered the oldest known Maya calendar by far in the jungles of Guatemala. And they say it does not predict -- contrary to popular interpretations of other calendars by the Maya civilization that once occupied Centra
According to experts from several US universities, the astronomical computations are 1,200 years old - four centuries older than the Maya calendar previously regarded as the oldest. They were found on the walls of a room unearthed amid Mayan ruins in the lost city of Xultun in northern Guatemala.
While many of the notations have been damaged by looters, a number of them are said to be still recognizable. Some are calculations of phases of the moon. Others are more puzzling but seem to describe the movements of Mars, Mercury and Venus.
The tiny, millimetre-thick red and black hieroglyphs are said to be unlike any seen before at Mayan sites. According to archaeologist William Saturno of Boston University, they appear to represent various astronomical cycles of the Maya: the 260-day ceremonial calendar, the 365-day solar calendar, and even the 584-day cycle of Venus and 780-day cycle of Mars.
"For the first time we get to see what may be actual records kept by a scribe, whose job was to be official record keeper of a Maya community... and they're painting it on the wall. They seem to be using it like a blackboard," Saturno said.//DPA