Stela 6, from Cerro de las Mesas. Note the Long Count date of 9.1.12.14.10 (April 468 CE) at the lower left. The glyphs above the date are one of the few Epi-Olmec script texts yet discovered.

Cerro de las Mesas (Spanish, "hill of the altars") is an archaeological site in Veracruz, Mexico. It was a prominent regional center from 600 BCE to 900 CE, and a regional capital from perhaps 300 CE to 600 CE.^[1] The Maya calendar is actually a system of distinct calendars and almanacs used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. ... The Common Era (CE), sometimes known as the Current Era or as the Christian Era, is the period of measured time beginning with the year 1 on the Gregorian calendar. ... Epi-Olmec (after Olmec) is a Mesoamerican writing system in use in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec from perhaps 500 BCE to 500 CE, although there is disagreement on these dates. ... An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been investigated using the discipline of archaeology. ... Veracruz from space, July 1997 The city of Veracruz is a major port city on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. ...

Located some 50 km (30 miles) due south of the city of Veracruz, Cerro de las Mesas is on the west edge of what had been the Olmec heartland. Rising to prominence after the decline of the Olmec culture, some researchers consider Cerro de las Mesas, along with similar sites like La Mojarra and Tres Zapotes, to be centers of a successor culture to the Olmecs, one that itself gave way to "Classic Veracruz" in the 3rd century CE.^[2] The influence of Teotihuacan appears in the archaeological record during this period. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1108x868, 836 KB) Summary Created by me - Madman2001 - using the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. ... Monument 1, one of the four Olmec colossal heads at La Venta. ... Tres Zapotes is a Mesoamerican archaeological site located in the south-central Gulf Lowlands of Mexico in the Papaloapan river plain. ... Teotihuacan was the largest Pre-Columbian known city in the Americas, and the name Teotihuacan is used to refer to the civilization this city dominated, which at its greatest extent included most of Mesoamerica. ...

The site contains hundreds of artificial mounds, many grouped around a man-made lagoon. Cerro de las Mesas is also home to many stelae, several of which contain portraits. Four of these stelae -- 5, 6, 8, and 15 -- contain what are likely to be instances of Epi-Olmec script.^[3]. Ancient Egyptian funerary stela A stela (or stele) is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerary or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased inscribed, carved in relief or painted onto the slab. ... Epi-Olmec (after Olmec) is a Mesoamerican writing system in use in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec from perhaps 500 BCE to 500 CE, although there is disagreement on these dates. ...

Notes

References

• Coe, Michael; Snow, Dean; Benson, Elizabeth; (1986) Atlas of Ancient America; Facts on File, New York.
• Diehl, Richard A. (2004) The Olmecs: America's First Civilization, Thames & Hudson, London.
• Justeson, John S., and Kaufman, Terrence (2001) Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing and Texts.
• Stark, Barbara L., (2001), "Cerro de las Mesas (Veracruz, Mexico)", in Evans, Susan, ed., Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America, Taylor & Francis, London.

External links

• Detailed photos of Stela 6.