Early Maya calendrical writing identified in Pre-Hispanic mural at Calakmul
The mural was created inside an arched vault designed to recreate the interior of a cave. Photo: Courtesy of Daniel Salazar.
CALAKMUL.—
A newly reconstructed mural from the ancient Maya city of Calakmul has revealed what researchers believe is an early example of calendrical writing, adding the site to a select group of major Maya centers associated with the development of writing and monumental culture during the Late Preclassic period.
The mural, discovered inside Structure II at the archaeological site, depicts the mythical hero Juun Ajaw hunting a creature in the water. Alongside the scene, researchers identified a sign corresponding to a day marker from the Maya 260-day ritual calendar.
The finding is particularly significant because most of the surviving inscriptions at Calakmul date from the Classic period, between AD 250 and 900. Until now, archaeologists had found no clear evidence of written communication at the city from the much earlier Preclassic era.
According to Daniel Salazar Lama, a specialist in Maya iconography and art history, the discovery places Calakmul within the broader cultural transformation that swept across the Maya Lowlands during the Late Preclassic period.
The era saw the rise of cities distinguished by monumental architecture, complex religious imagery, and increasingly sophisticated forms of writing. Sites such as San Bartolo, El Mirador, and Tikal in present-day Guatemala have long been associated with this cultural development.
“We can now include Calakmul as one of the places where these types of manifestations appeared,” Salazar Lama said during a recent presentation in Campeche.
A mural hidden within a symbolic cave
The mural was painted inside an arched vault designed to evoke the interior of a cave. In ancient Maya belief, caves were not simply natural formations. They were sacred spaces connected to ancestors, deities, creation, and the supernatural forces believed to animate the cosmos.
They were also understood as places where the world could be renewed or reordered through the actions of gods and cultural heroes.
The architectural setting therefore appears to have been closely linked to the meaning of the image. The hunting scene may represent an episode from a creation story or a ritual action associated with the life cycle of the Maya maize god.
Salazar Lama said the mural could depict a propitiatory act intended to ensure fertility, renewal, or cosmic balance. The calendrical sign appears to have been added over the image at a later stage, possibly to record the date on which the mythical hunting and sacrificial episode was believed to have occurred.
Reconstructing an image almost lost to time
The mural measures approximately 1.90 meters wide and 1.70 meters high. It was discovered during the Calakmul Archaeological Project led by archaeologist Ramón Carrasco Vargas.
Because of concerns about its preservation, the mural was removed from its original location in 2005 and transferred to Mexico’s National Coordination for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, where it remains safeguarded.
The image was drawn in charcoal and has deteriorated to the point that many of its details are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. Researchers therefore turned to advanced image-processing techniques, photogrammetry, archival documentation, and digital drawing to reconstruct the composition.
The renewed study began with an effort to recover earlier excavation reports, photographs, and graphic records connected to Carrasco Vargas’s original discovery.
The digital reconstruction allowed researchers to identify Juun Ajaw, a well-known figure in Maya mythology. The character appears at several sites across the Maya Lowlands, particularly on painted ceramic vessels from the Classic period, where he is shown participating in supernatural and mythological episodes.
Rethinking the mural’s date
The building containing the mural was originally dated to between 400 and 390 BC. Researchers now propose a broader date range of approximately 400 to 200 BC.
The revised chronology is based not only on the archaeological and architectural evidence, but also on the style of the drawing. According to Salazar Lama, the figure and the overall composition do not appear to be quite as early as 400 BC and may have been created one or two centuries later.
Further scientific analysis will be needed to establish a more precise date.
“New samples must be taken in order to obtain more accurate dates,” the researcher said.
A ceremonial setting for rulers and priests
The exact purpose of Substructure II C, where the mural was found, remains uncertain. Its architecture and decoration, however, suggest that it played an important ceremonial role.
The building’s principal exterior façade includes a frieze framed by celestial imagery, with three deities shown descending from the sky. Large masks on the lower section represent the birth of the maize god.
Together, these elements may have formed an elaborate setting for ceremonies performed by rulers or priests. The structure may also have functioned as a place of worship dedicated to celestial gods, the maize deity, or the mythological figure represented in the mural.
The discovery expands the understanding of Calakmul beyond its later fame as one of the most powerful cities of the Classic Maya world. It suggests that the site was already participating centuries earlier in the religious, artistic, and intellectual developments that shaped Maya civilization.
The research is being conducted through an interdisciplinary and binational project involving Archaïos, a research center in Paris; the French Center for Mexican and Central American Studies; the Stresser-Péan Foundation; and Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, an agency of the country’s Ministry of Culture.
