Ancient Maya civilization is widely known for its hieroglyphic writing system. Although the Maya were not the only Mesoamerican civilization that had developed writing, Maya hieroglyphs have received major attention because of the sheer size of the script corpus as well as the fact that Maya writing has been deciphered during the last thirty years so that approximately 75 percent of its written texts can now be understood.

Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions are found in an area that corresponds to the geographic extension of classic Maya civilization, including archaeological sites in the Mexican states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo; the Petén department of Guatemala; the western part of Honduras; and all of Belize. There are also inscriptions in earlier and probably related writing systems from the Pacific coast and the highlands of Chiapas, Guatemala, and El Salvador. It is disputed whether these writing systems were direct precursors to the script of the Maya lowlands or whether they were independent developments (Chinchilla Mazariegos 1999; Houston 2004).

The beginning of Maya hieroglyphic writing can now be dated to the second half of the Middle Preclassic period. The earliest archaeologically dated texts from ca. 300 BC have been found at San Bartolo, Petén, Guatemala (Saturno, Stuart, and Beltrán 2006). Their formal development and elaboration suggest that earlier forms of Maya writing must have developed centuries before. While texts from the Preclassic period are very few, the beginning of the Early Classic period is marked by a sudden increase of writing on stone monuments. The Classic period (250–900 AD) saw the apex of Maya writing. During this time, Maya writing was employed on many different media. Due to the decomposition of organic material, most Maya texts from the Classic period are preserved on stone monuments, such as stelae and altars as well as on architectural sculpture, such as lintels, doorjambs, and stairways (Figure 64.1). In addition to monumental inscriptions, the preserved corpus also includes texts painted and carved on ceramics (Reents-Budet 1994). Few painted inscriptions have survived apart from those on ceramics; those that have been discovered are found in caves and on the walls of buildings. Finally, a large number of small artifacts in bone, jade, or greenstone jewelry and shell have also been used as media for Maya writing. With the end of dynastic kingship in the ninth century and the transformation of Maya society during the Postclassic period, writers went from recording monumental texts to creating screenfold books almost exclusively. Three books from the Postclassic period have survived the tropical climate and destruction by the Spanish clergy: these are the Maya codices housed today in European libraries in Dresden, Madrid, and Paris (Figure 64.2). Although the only Maya books that exist today were painted in the last centuries before the Spanish conquest, paintings and other secondary evidence leave no doubt that paper books were in use from the very beginning of Maya writing. The end of Maya writing came with the advent of the Spanish conquistadors and priests, who forbade the use of the native, “pagan” writing system. Even though hieroglyphic manuscripts were burnt and their owners punished, Maya writing continued to be used secretly until the end of the eighteenth century (Chuchiak 2010).