Earliest securely dated Maya/Mesoamerican Long Count inscription
- Date
- 36 BCE (Long Count 7.16.3.2.13)
- Category
- Science, technology & invention
- Region
- Mexico (Chiapas)
- Era
- Classical Antiquity
- Significance
A carved monument known as Stela 2 from Chiapa de Corzo in Chiapas, Mexico, bears a Long Count date corresponding to December 36 BCE (7.16.3.2.13), the earliest unambiguous Long Count inscription yet found.
The Long Count was a positional, absolute calendar that counted days elapsed from a mythological zero point in 3114 BCE, allowing Mesoamerican scribes to fix events precisely across thousands of years — a chronological precision unmatched elsewhere in the pre-Columbian Americas. Although the system was likely developed by the Olmec or Epi-Olmec cultures of the Gulf Coast and Isthmian zone, the Chiapa de Corzo text, together with the nearby Tres Zapotes Stela C (32 BCE), shows the count in regular monumental use by the first century BCE. The Long Count later became central to Classic Maya stelae, where rulers tied their reigns to the cosmic calendar. The notation also implies sophisticated use of place-value and the concept of zero.
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Empires active in 36 BCE (Long Count 7.16.3.2.13)
- Han Dynasty202 BCE – 220 CE
- Roman Republic509 BCE – 27 BCE
- Xiongnu Confederation209 BCE – 93 CE
- Parthian Empire247 BCE – 224 CE
- Kan Kingdom (El Mirador)300 BCE – 150 CE
- Indo-Greek Kingdom180 BCE – 10 CE
Related science, technology & invention events
- Cai Lun standardises papermaking105 CE
- The Antikythera mechanism, an ancient analog computerc. 100 BCE
- Inauguration of the Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre)80 CE
- Compilation of the Charaka Samhita and the Codification of Ayurvedac. 100 CE
- Euclid compiles the Elements at Alexandriac. 300 BCE
- Zhang Heng invents the seismoscope132 CE
Further reading
The wider story
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