Lost Indigenous Civilization Inscriptions
Lost Indigenous Civilization Inscriptions
Cerro de las Mesas or "Hill of the Altars" is divided into four sections serving as the starting points of ancient cultural and ceremonial sites Cerro de las Mesas was an important regional center from 600 BC to 900 AD and the regional capital from 300 to 600 AD. It is located in Veracruz Mexico in the Mixtequilla region of the Papaloapan River basin The fertile alluvial soil provided the foundation for three crops per year Cerro de las Mesas along with similar sites is located on the western edge of what was once the Olmec center
Altar 1 of La Venta / Tablet No. 1 6 from Cerro de las Mesas / image credit : pueblosoriginarios
These four inscriptions are likely fragments of the Epi-Olmec or Isthmian script another linguistic resource Although the exact date remains unclear the oldest symbols found in inscriptions around the Tevantepec Isthmus resemble Maya script and like the Maya represent the sentence unit double altar of five This inscription along with the text on the Teotihuacan mask dates back to the Early to Middle Classic period They are short mostly functional and are the longest known Epi-Olmec texts from that period The accessibility of numbered inscriptions reflects the relationship between the Early Classic Epi-Olmec and Central Mexicans as documented at Cerro de las Mesas
Stela 5 at Takalik Abaj, El Asintal Retalhuleu
Guatemala showing an early example of a Long Count date.
The headdress a tall bra is found in the rock formations of the Tabasco jungle At the center a prominent figure wearing a headdress nearly as tall as himself is accompanied by six unusual figures possibly representing deities The two panels adjacent to the text on the stela with faded traces and markings appear to have a sequence of images resembling Teotihuacan iconography This may be a Teotihuacan hieroglyphic text.
“Mexicas Esplendor de un Imperio” image credit: Oscar Montemayor Barajas
The text on Stela 5 is undoubtedly a complete epi-Olmec hieroglyphic text as is that on Stela 6 The symbols from Tablet 5 at Cerro de las Mesas have been adapted to the Epi-Olmec display style Tablet 5 dates back to 528 AD likely contemporaneous with the Chapultepec tablet It is assumed that it originated not from the Chapultepec hill but from the village of Chapultepec approximately 45 kilometers east and south of Mexico City Both stelae also have raised panels on the left facing the statues and the inscriptions on these panels are distinctly different They share a similar scene with a single figure facing left toward the raised panel of symbols
The Twin Altars of Five from Cerro de las Mesas
Table 6 from Cerro de las Mesa. The carving bearing the initial date of the series is in uncorroded Maya script. This discovery extends the known period of use of the Maya calendar in the Veracruz region from 291 BC. The oldest in the 1939 survey dates to 206 AD and the carvings on the north side of the Altar of the Five as well as the south side the bas-reliefs show two people holding infants with adult faces likely representing child gods The east and west sides are flattened the upper part destroyed
