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Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza, located at the northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula of modern Mexico, was a Maya city which was later significantly influenced by the Toltec civilization. Flourishing between c. 750 and 1200 CE, the site is rich in monumental...

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Maya kakau glyph
This ancient Maya glyph is pronounced "kah-kah-oo." Various forms of this glyph can be found on Maya vessels, some of which are known to have contained chocolate in some form.

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Clay Maya Nobleman Figure
Maya Nobleman, Jaina, Maya culture, Late Classic Period, c. 600-900 CE. Campeche, Mexico. Fired clay with remnants of paint.
Exhibited at Museum Rietberg, Zurich, Switzerland.

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The Maya Calendar, Culture and History: an Introduction to a Mesoamerican Civilization
The Maya are a people indigenous to Mexico and Central America who have continuously inhabited the modern regions of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas in Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and...

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Remnants of Maya Ruins at San Gervasio, Mexico
The ruins of San Gervasio — located on the island of Cozumel in Mexico — were once an important site of pilgrimage to Maya people who lived from c. 1000-1650 CE. A sanctuary of the Maya goddess Ix Chel used to be located at this location...

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Maya Spouted Jar
This spouted vessel is one of the most elegantly sculpted stone containers in the corpus of Maya art. Its form with the vertical spout parallel to the central axis of the main chamber is known from the late 1st millennium B.C. and is especially...

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Early Writing Tablet
This table is made of clay and was found in Southern Iraq (3100-3000 BCE). Early writing was used as a way to keep track of the administration and it was only in later years its uses evolved. Early writing in Mesopotamia was made by pressing...

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Oldest Writing in Switzerland
Copy of funerary stela with inscription, Vira-Gambarogno, Ticino. 5th century BC. The name of the deceased reads from bottom to top: teromui kalui.
Find our more: The Oldest Writing in Switzerland.

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Cuneiform Writing
A relief of cuneiform writing from Assyria.
Exhibited in the British Museum London.

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Wooden Writing-tablet
Wooden writing-tablet, 1st-2nd century CE, from Londinium (Roman London). British Museum, London