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Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing
By
C.A. Winters, Ph.D
1
Copyright © 2012 Clyde Winters
2
Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………
……..5
Chapter
1………………………………………………………………………………………17
Chapter 2: Olmec
Language…………………………………………………………27
Chapter 3: Olmec and Mayan Languages……………………………………35
Chapter 4: Olmec
Phonology……………………………………………………….62
Chapter 5: Olmec
Nouns………………………………………………………………70
Chapter 6: Olmec
Adjectives………………………………………………………..75
Chapter 7:Olmec
Adverbs…………………………………………………………….78
Chapter 8:Olmec
Articles……………………………………………………………..81
Chapter 9: Olmec
Sentences………………………………………………………..82
Chpter 10: Olmec
Writing……………………………………………………………..84
3
Chapter 11: Syllabic
Writing………………………………………………………….99
Chapter 12: Hieroglyphic
Writing………………………………………………….108
References………………………………………………………………………………
………131
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Introduction
Dr. Andrzej Wiercinski of Warsaw University is the most influential
scientist in the study of the most ancient civilization of Mexico: the
Olmecs .Dr. Wiercinski found African skeletons at the Olmec sites of
Monte Alban and Tlatilco. Morley, Brainerd and Sharer (1989) said that
Monte Alban was a colonial Olmec center (p.12). Diehl and Coe (1996)
admitted that the inspiration of Olmec Horizon A, common to San
Lorenzo's iniitial phase has been found at Tlatilco. Moreover, the
pottery from this site is engraved with Olmec signs.
The Olmec civilization was developed along the coast of the Gulf of
Mexico in the states of Tabasco and Veracruz (Pouligny 1988:34).The
5
Pacific area was early colonized by Olmec people in middle Preclassic
times (Morley, Brainerd & Sharer 1984).
The Olmec civilization was unique. It originated full bloom at some
forty sites by 1200 B.C. (Coe, 1989; Tate, 1995). Coe (1989) noted
that:
"On the contrary, the evidence, although negative, is that the Olmec
style of art, and Olmec engineering ability suddenly appeared full-
fledged from about 1200 B.C. (p. 82).
This archaeological evidence also led Tate (1995) to note that
"Olmec culture as far as we know seems to have had no antcedents,
no material models remain for its monumental constructions and
sculptures and the ritual acts captured in small objects" (p.65).
The Maya were not the first to occupy the Yucatan and Gulf regions
of Mexico. It is evident from Maya traditions and the artifacts
recovered from many ancient Mexican sites that a different race lived
in Mayaland before the Mayan speakers settled this region.
The linguistic evidence suggest that around 1200 B.C., a new
linguistic group arrived in the Gulf region of Mexico.M. Swadesh (1953)
has presented evidence that at least 3200 years ago a non- Maya
speaking group wedged itself between the Huastecs and the Maya.
Soustelle (1984: 29) tells us that "We cannot help but think that the
6
people that shattered the unity of the Proto-Mayas was also the people
that brought Olmec civilization to the region".
Weiner (1922) believe that some of these foreign people may have
come from West Africa. Dr. Wiercinski (1972) claims that some of the
Olmecs were of African origin.
Dr. Wiercinski supports this claim with skeletal evidence from
several Olmec sites where he found skeletons that were analogous to
the West African type . Wiercinski discovered that 13.5 percent of the
skeletons from Tlatilco and 4.5 percent of the skeletons from Cerro de
las Mesas were Africoid (Wiercinski & Jairazbhoy 1975).
Traditions mentioned by Bernardino Sahagun, a famous authority
on the Indian people of Mexico, records the settlement of Mexico by a
different race from the present Amerindian population. Sahagun says
that these "Eastern settlers of Mexico landed at Panotha, on the
Mexican Gulf. Here they remained for a time until they moved south in
search of mountains. Other migration to Mexico stories are mention in
the Popol Vuh, the ancient religious and historical text compiled by the
Quiche Mayan Indians.
Friar Diego de Landa (1978:8,28) , in Yucatan Before and After the
Conquest, wrote that "some old men of Yucatan say that they have
heard from their ancestors that this country was peopled by a certain
7
race who came from the East, whom God delivered by opening for
them twelve roads through the sea".
This tradition probably refers to the twelve migrations of the Olmec
people. This view is supported by the stone reliefs from Izapa,
Chiapas , Mexico published by the New World Foundation. In Stela 5,
from Izapa we see a group of men on a boat riding the waves
(Wuthenau 1980; Smith 1984 ; Norman 1976).
It is clear that Stela No.5, from Izapa not only indicates the tree of life,
it also confirms the tradition recorded by Friar Diego de Landa that the
Olmec people made twelve migrations to the New World. This stela
8
also confirms the tradition recorded by the famous Mayan historian
Ixtlixochitl, that the Olmec came to Mexico in "ships of barks " and
landed at Pontochan, which they commenced to populate (Winters
1984: 16). These Blacks are frequently depicted in the Mayan
books/writings carrying trade goods.
Izapa Stela Number 5
On Stela No.5 we see a boat surrounded by waves. In the center of the
boat on Stela No.5, we find a large tree. This tree has seven branches
and twelve roots. The seven branches probably represent the seven
major clans of the Olmec people. The twelve roots of the tree
extending into the water from the boat probably signifies the "twelve
roads through the sea", mentioned by Friar Diego Landa.
The Amerindian migration traditions and Stela No.5, probably
relates to a segment of the Olmec, who landed in boats in Panotha or
Pantla (the Huasteca) and moved along the coast as far as Guatemala.
This would correspond to the non-Maya speaking group detected by
Swadesh that separated the Maya and Huasteca speakers 2000 years
ago.
Bernardino de Sahagun (1946) a famous authority on Mexico also
supports the extra-American origin of the ancient Mexicans when he
9
wrote that "Eastern settlers of Mexico landed at Panotla on the
Mexican Gulf. Here they remained for a time until they moved south in
search of mountains".The reported route of the Panotha settlers
recorded by Sahagun interestingly corresponds to the spread of the
Olmecs in Meso-America. The Olmec civilization extended from the
Gulf of Mexico to Chalcatzingo, in the Mexican highlands along the
Pacific coast (Morley, Brainerd & Sharer 1983, p.52).
This Amerindian historical and linguistic evidence indicates that a
new linguistic group entered the Olmec heartland around the time we
find the Olmec culutre in Mexico (Soustelle, 1984). Winters
(1979,1997) claims that this new linguistic group was a group of
Manding people that migrated from West Africa to Mexico.
Justeson and Kaufman (1993) and Marcus (1989) manitain that the
Olmec people spoke a Otomanguean language. The Otomanguean
family include Zapotec, Mixtec and Otomi to name a few.
The hypothesis that the Olmec spoke an Otomanguean language is not
supported by the contemporary spatial distribution of the languages
spoken in the Tabasco/Veracruz area. Thomas Lee (1989, 223) noted
that
"...closely Mixe, Zoque and Popoluca languages are spoken in
numerous villages in a mixed manner having little or no apparent
semblance of linguistic or spatial unity. The general assumption made
10
by the few investigators who have considered the situation, is that the
modern linguistic pattern is a result of the disruption of an Old
homogeneous language group by more powerful neighbors or
invaders...."
If this linguistic evidence is correct, many of the languages in the
Otomanguean family are spoken by people who may have only
recently settled in the Olmec heartland, and may not reflect the people
that invented the culture we call Olmecs today.
The Olmecs probably spoke a Manding language (Winters, 1979,
1997). This view is supported by the Manding substratum in the Otomi
(Winters, 1979), and Mayan languages (Wiener, 1920-22; Winters,
1979).
When the Mande/Olmec arrived in Mexico the local people
continued to practice their culture. The Olmec people did not attempt
to conquer the local people they built their sites in protected areas. As
time went on the local people would have become engaged in trade
with the Mande and over time adopt many elements of their culture.
This would explain the Mayan adoption of the Mande term for writing.
African related artifacts have been discovered at archaeological
sites; this artifactual evidence include Mande inscriptions and red-and-
black pottery. African writing on Olmec artifacts is the most obvious
African artifact found by arcaheologist. Drucker in 1955 found two
inscribed celts at LaVenta in offering #4. These celts were written in
11
African writing, found in a controlled excavation talk about Pe, a
leading sprititual leader that was buried at LaVenta Offering #4
(Winters, 1979).
The red-and-black ware used by the Proto-Mande in the Saharan
Highlands was also used by the Olmec. Examples of this pottery style
include the so-called Blackware red pigmnet of Las Bocas and Tlatilco.
Many of these vessels are inscribed with Olmec writing.
The Olmec spoke a variety of the Mande language closely related to
the Malinke-Bambara group, which is still spoken in West Africa today.
Many scholars refuse to admit that Africans early settled America.
The major evidence of the African origin of the Olmecs come from
their writing. The writing system used by the Olmec and later adopted
by the Maya, was first used by Mande speaking people in North Africa
and is called Libyco-Berber ( eventhough it can not be read in a Berber
language). The first scholar to recognize the african origin of the Olmec
writing was Leo Wiener, in Africa and the Discovery of America.
The Proto- Olmec or Manding people formerly lived in North Africa in
the Saharan Highlands : and Fezzan.(. Winters, 1986) . Here the
ancestors of the Olmecs left their oldest inscription written in the
Manding script (which some people call Libyco-Berber, eventhough
they can not be reading Berber) : was found at Oued Mertoutek and
dated by Wulsin in , Papers of the peabody Museum of American
Arcaheology and Ethnology (Vol.19(1), 1940), to 3000 B.C. This
12
indicates that the Manding hand writing 2000 years before they settled
the Gulf of Mexico.
Dr. Wiener, highlighted the fact that the writing on the Tuxtla
statuette was identical to writing used by the Mande speaking people.
Using the evidence of cognate scripts and language I was able to
decipher the Olmec writing in 1979.
The Olmec left this writing on inscribed celts recovered during
archaeological excavation at such sites as LaVenta, by Drucker for
example. The Olmec also used the black-and-red ware which all
archaeologist agree originated in Saharan Africa. This provides
artifactual evidence for African-Olmecs.
The Olmecs probably founded writing in the Mexico. Dr. Coe, in
"Olmec Jaguar and Olmec Kings" (1968), suggested that the beliefs of
the Maya were of Olmec origin and that the pre Maya were Olmecs
(1968,p.103). This agreed with Brainerd and Sharer's, The ancient
Maya (1983,p.65) concept of colonial Olmec at Maya sites. Moreover,
this view is supported by the appearance of jaguar stucco mask
pyramids (probably built by the Olmecs) under Mayan pyramids e.g.,
Cerros Structure 5-C-2nd, Uxaxacatun pyramid and structure 5D-22 at
Tikal. This would conform to Schele and Freidel's belief that the
monumental structures of the Maya were derived from Olmec
prototypes.
13
Terrence Kaufman has proposed that the Olmec spoke a
Mexe-Zoquean speech. My research as discussed in the articles
mentioned above indicate that the Olmec people spoke a variation of
the Malinke-Bambara language and not a Zoquean language.
An Olmec origin for many pre-Classic Maya, would explain the
cover-up of the jaguar stucco mask pyramids with classic Maya
pyramids at these sites. It would also explain Schele and Freidel's
(1990,p.56) claim that the first king of Palenque was the Olmec leader
U-Kix-chan; and that the ancient Maya adopted many Olmec social
institutions and olmec symbolic imagery.
Landa in makes it clear that the Yucatec Maya claimed that they got
writing from a group of foreigners called Tutul Xiu (Tozzer,1941). The
term Tutul Xiu, can be translated in Manding as Tutu-l ,"Very good
Subjects of the Order", Xi-u, "The Shi" , or The Shis (who) are very
good supporters of the cult-order". In this passage the -l, is a suffix of
augmentation and the -u, is the plural element. The Shi, is probably
related to the Manding term "Si", which was also an ethnonym.
The fact that the Yucatec term for writing is "c'i:b'" and the Olmec/
Malinke-Bambara term for writing "se'be'", are analogous in sound
support a Manding origin for the Mayan term for writing. Moreover this
confirms the earlier findings by Wiener of a Malinke-Bambara
substratum in the culture and religious terms of the Maya and Aztec
people.
14
In addition to the Mande speaking Olmec or Xi people influcing the
Mayan languages they also influenced the Otomi language of Mexico.
The Otomi language also shows affinity to the Mande languages.
Otomi Mande
to that to
min grab mina
ka, ki cut te'ge'
ku brother koro
nee mouth ne
sine 'lip' sine 'sucking part of the mouth'
ne language ne
sui night su
t?i son/daughter ti
da eye do
ta/ye man tye/ kye
The Otomi and Mande languages also demonstrate similar grammatical
features: Otomi ho' ka' ra' 'ngu "he makes the houses" Mande a kee nu
' he makes the family habitation. The Otomi use /bi/ to form the
complete action. This agrees with the Mande verb to be: bi. For
example: Otomi bi du 'he died', bi zo-gi ' he left it' Mande a bi sa ' he is
dead'. In Otomi find da' , to form the incompleted action, e.g., ci 'eat'
daci 'he will eat'. This agrees with the Mande affix da/la used to form
15
the factitive or transitive value e.g., la bo 'to take this place' This
indicates agreement between the Mande and Otomi languages.
In conclusion the affinity between Olmec and African skeletons,
artifactual evidence from Olmec sites, of Olmec/Manding and Mayan
signs support the view that the Mande speaking Olmecs gave the Maya
writing. These Olmecs as discussed in earlier postings came from
Saharan/ North Africa before 1000 B.C. This would explain the
agreement beween Mayan *c'ihb' and Olmec/Manding *se'be'. This
along with the obvious total affinity of the Olmec symbols and the
symbols used by the Manding people at Oued Mertoutek in 3000 B.C.,
and later around the Nigerbend which Wiener used to compare with
the Tuxtla symbols, all support the fact that the Olmec were Manding
speaking Meso-Americans.
The fact that the Olmecs were predominately African in no way
demeans the abilities of native Americans. In fact, the Olmecs left
behind a rich culture/ civilizations that has made the later civilizations
of the Zapotecs and Maya some of the greatest civilizations in World
History.
Chapter 1: Origin of the Olmecs
Diehl and Coe (1995, 12) of Harvard University have made it clear
that until a skeleton of an African is found on an Olmec site he will not
16
accept the art evidence that there were Africans among the Olmecs.
This is rather surprising because Constance Irwin and Dr. Wiercinski
(1972) have both reported that skeletal remains of Africans have been
found in Mexico. Constance Irwin, in Fair Gods and Stone Faces, says
that anthropologist see "distinct signs of Negroid ancestry in many a
New World skull...."
The Olmec were a cosmopolitan people of African origin. As a result
we find many other nationalities living in the Olmec cities in addition to
Africans, from many parts of the Old World. Alexander von Wuthenau
has recorded the iconographic evidence for the European and Chinese
people that traded with the Olmec people.
But the evidence of African skeletons found at many Olmec sites,
and their trading partners from the Old World found by Dr. Andrzej
Wiercinski prove the cosmopolitan nature of Olmec society. Many
African skeletons have been found in Mexico. Carlo Marquez (1956,
pp.179-180) claimed that these skeletons indicated marked
pronathousness and prominent cheek bones.
The greatest anthropologist to study the ethnic origins of the Olmec
people is Andrzej Wiercinski of Warsaw University. Professor
Wiercinski, Head of the Department of Historical Anthropology, and
Fellow of the New York City and Polish Chapter of the Explorers Club, is
17
the first, and last anthropologists to conduct a biological study of
Olmec people, the founders of civilization in Mexico.
Dr. Wiercinski’s (1972)work on the ancient Olmec is the most
quoted scientific paper on the ancient Olmec quoted by numerous
researchers working on the origins of the Olmec people of Mexico
(Griffith, 1993; Rensberger,1988;van Sertima, 1976; Wiercinski, 1972;
Wiercinski & Jairazbhoy 1975). This work by Wiercinski (1972) is
important because he proved that the Olmec civilization was a
cosmopolitan civilization, much like the United States is today.
Dr. Wiercinski (1972) claims that some of the Olmecs were of Old
World origin, especially African origin. He supports this claim with
skeletal evidence from several Olmec sites where he found skeletons
that were analogous to the West African type black. Wiercinski
discovered that 13.5 percent of the skeletons from Tlatilco and 4.5
percent of the skeletons from Cerro de las Mesas were Africoid
( Rensberger,1988;van Sertima, 1976; Wiercinski, 1972; Wiercinski &
Jairazbhoy 1975).
Dr. Wiercinski (1972) claims that some of the Olmecs were of African
origin. He supports this claim with skeletal evidence from several
Olmec sites where he found skeletons that were analogous to the West
African type black. Many Olmec skulls show cranial deformations
(Pailles, 1980), yet Wiercinski (1972b) was able to determine the
ethnic origins of the Olmecs. Marquez (1956, 179-80) made it clear
18
that a common trait of the African skulls found in Mexico include
marked prognathousness ,prominent cheek bones are also mentioned.
Fronto-occipital deformation among the Olmec is not surprising
because cranial deformations was common among the Mande
speaking people until fairly recently (Desplanges, 1906).
Many African skeletons have been found in Mexico. Carlo Marquez
(1956, pp.179-180) claimed that these skeletons indicated marked
pronathousness and prominent cheek bones.
Wiercinski found African skeletons at the Olmec sites of Monte
Alban, Cerro de las Mesas and Tlatilco. Morley, Brainerd and Sharer
(1989) said that Monte Alban was a colonial Olmec center (p.12).
Diehl and Coe (1996) admitted that the inspiration of Olmec Horizon
A, common to San Lorenzo's iniitial phase has been found at Tlatilco.
Moreover, the pottery from this site is engraved with Olmec signs.
According to Wiercinski (1972b) Africans represented more than
13.5 percent of the skeletal remains found at Tlatilco and 4.5 percent
of the Cerro remains (see Table 2). Wiercinski (1972b) studied a total
of 125 crania from Tlatilco and Cerro.
There were 38 males and 62 female crania in the study from
Tlatilco and 18 males and 7 females from Cerro. Whereas 36 percent of
the skeletal remains were of males, 64 percent were women
(Wiercinski, 1972b).
19
To determine the racial heritage of the ancient Olmecs, Dr.
Wiercinski (1972b) used classic diagnostic traits determined by
craniometric and cranioscopic methods. These measurements were
then compared to a series of three crania sets from Poland, Mongolia
and Uganda to represent the three racial categories of mankind.
In Table 1, we have the racial composition of the Olmec skulls. The only European type recorded in this
table is the Alpine group which represents only 1.9 percent of the crania from Tlatilco.
Table 1.Olmec Races
Racial Type Tlatilco
Norm Percent
Cerro de Mesas
Norm Percent
Subpacific
Dongolan
Subainuid
Pacific
Armenoid
Armenoid-Bushman
Anatolian
Alpine
Ainuid
Ainuid-Arctic
Laponoid-Equatorial
Pacific-Equatorial
20 38.5
10 19.2
7 13.5
4 7.7
2 3.9
2 3.9
2 3.9
1 1.9
1 1.9
1 1.9
1 1.9
1 1.9
________________
7 63.6
--- ----
3 27.3
--- ----
--- ----
1 9.1
--- ---
--- ---
--- ---
--- ---
--- ---
--- ---
________________
20
Totals (norm) 52 11
The other alleged "white" crania from Wiercinski's typology of Olmec
crania, represent the Dongolan (19.2 percent), Armenoid (7.7 percent),
Armenoid-Bushman (3.9 percent) and Anatolian (3.9 percent). The
Dongolan, Anatolian and Armenoid terms are euphemisms for the so-
called "Brown Race" "Dynastic Race", "Hamitic Race",and etc., which
racist Europeans claimed were the founders of civilization in Africa.
Table 2:
Racial Composition:
Loponoid
Armenoid
Ainuid+Artic
Pacific
Equatorial+Bushman
Tlatico
21.2
18.3
10.6
36.5
13.5
Cerro de las Mesas
31.8
4.5
13.6
45.5
4.5
Poe (1997), Keita (1993,1996), Carlson and Gerven (1979)and
MacGaffey (1970) have made it clear that these people were Africans
or Negroes with so-called 'caucasian features' resulting from genetic
drift and microevolution (Keita, 1996; Poe, 1997). This would mean
21
that the racial composition of 26.9 percent of the crania found at
Tlatilco and 9.1 percent of crania from Cerro de las Mesas were of
African origin.
In Table 2, we record the racial composition of the Olmec according
to the Wiercinski (1972b) study. The races recorded in this table are
based on the Polish Comparative-Morphological School (PCMS). The
PCMS terms Dongolan , Armenoid, and Equatorial groups refer to
African people with varying facial features which are all Blacks. This is
obvious when we look at the iconographic and sculptural evidence
used by Wiercinski (1972b) to support his conclusions.
Wiercinski (1972b) compared the physiognomy of the Olmecs to
corresponding examples of Olmec sculptures and bas-reliefs on the
stelas. For example, Wiercinski (1972b, p.160) makes it clear that the
clossal Olmec heads represent the Dongolan type. It is interesting to
note that the emperical frequencies of the Dongolan type at Tlatilco
is .231, this was more than twice as high as Wiercinski's theorectical
figure of .101, for the presence of Dongolans at Tlatilco.
The other possible African type found at Tlatilco and Cerro were the
Laponoid group. The Laponoid group represents the Austroloid-
Melanesian type of (Negro) Pacific Islander, not the Mongolian type. If
we add together the following percent of the Olmecs represented in
Table 2, by the Laponoid (21.2%), Equatorial (13.5), and Armenoid
(18.3) groups we can assume that at least 53 percent of the Olmecs at
22
Tlatilco were Africans or Blacks. Using the same figures recorded in
Table 2 for Cerro,we observe that 40.8 percent of these Olmecs would
have been classified as Black if they lived in contemporary America.
Rossum (1996) has criticied the work of Dr. Wiercinski because he
found that not only blacks, but whites were also present in ancient
America. To support this view he (1) claims that Wiercinski was wrong
because he found that Negro/Black people lived in Shang China, and 2)
that he compared ancient skeletons to modern Old World people.
First, it was not surprising that Wiercinski found affinities between
African and ancient Chinese populations, because everyone knows that
many Negro/African /Oceanic skeletons (referred to as Loponoid by the
Polish school) have been found in ancient China see: Kwang-chih
Chang The Archaeology of ancient China (1976,1977, p.76,1987,
pp.64,68). These Blacks were spread throughout Kwangsi, Kwantung,
Szechwan, Yunnan and Pearl River delta.
Skeletons from Liu-Chiang and Dawenkou, early Neolithic sites
found in China, were also Negro. Moreover, the Dawenkou skeletons
show skull deformation and extraction of teeth customs, analogous to
customs among Blacks in Polynesia and Africa.
Secondly, Rossum argues that Wiercinski was wrong about Blacks in
ancient America because a comparison of modern native American
skeletal material and the ancient Olmec skeletal material indicate no
admixture. The study of Vargas and Rossum are flawed. They are
23
flawed because the skeletal reference collection they used in their
comparison of Olmec skeletal remains and modern Amerindian
populations because the Mexicans have been mixing with African and
European populations since the 1500's. This has left many components
of these Old World people within and among Mexican Amerindians.
The iconography of the classic Olmec and Mayan civilization show no
correspondence in facial features. But many contemporary Maya and
other Amerind groups show African characteristics and DNA. Underhill,
et al (1996) found that the Mayan people have an African Y
chromosome. This would explain the "puffy" faces of contemporary
Amerinds, which are incongruent with the Mayan type associated with
classic Mayan sculptures and stelas.
Wiercinski on the otherhand, compared his SRC to an unmixed
European and African sample. This comparison avoided the use of
skeletal material that is clearly mixed with Africans and Europeans, in
much the same way as the Afro-American people he discussed in his
essay who have acquired "white" features since mixing with whites due
to the slave trade.
A. von Wuthenau (1980), and Wiercinski (1972b) highlight the
numerous art pieces depicting the African or Black variety which made
up the Olmec people. This re-anlysis of the Olmec skeletal meterial
from Tlatilco and Cerro, which correctly identifies Armenoid, Dongolan
and Loponoid as euphmisms for "Negro" make it clear that a
24
substantial number of the Olmecs were Blacks support the art
evidence and writing which point to an African origin for Olmec
civilization.
In conclusion,Polish physical anthropologist use many terms to
refer to the African type represented by Olmec skeletal remains
including Armenoid, Dongolan, Loponoid and Equatorial. The evidence
of African skeletons found at many Olmec sites, and their trading
partners from the Old World found by Dr. Andrzej Wiercinski prove the
cosmopolitan nature of Olmec society. This skeletal evidence explains
the discovery of many African tribes in Mexico and Central America
when Columbus discovered the Americas (de Quatrefages, 1836).
The skeletal material from Tlatilco and Cerro de las Mesas and
evidence that the Olmecs used an African writing to inscribe their
monuments and artifacts, make it clear that Africans were a
predominant part of the Olmec population. These Olmecs constructed
complex pyramids and large sculptured monuments weighing tons.
The Maya during the Pre-Classic period built pyramids over the Olmec
pyramids to disguise the Olmec origin of these pyramids.
The identification by Dr. Wiercinski of the ethnic origin of the Olmec
is the most important discovery of any scientists in relation to the
Olmec. Through Dr. Wercinski’s discovery that the Olmec may have
come from Africa, due to their biological association to Africans
25
suggested that the Olmec people probably spoke a language closely
related to an African language.
Chapter 2: The Olmec Language
The anthropological research by Wiercinski makes it clear that
many of the Olmecs were Africans. The fact that many Olmec
skeletons were identical to those of people presently living in Africa
suggested that the cognate language for the Olmecs might be found in
Africa.
A likely candidate for the Olmec language was the Mande group of
languages spoken over a wide area in Western Africa. This view was
supported by the linguistic evidence found by Wiener (1922) that
indicate a Mande/Manding substratum exist in many Amerindian
languages spoken in Mexico. Moreover, Wiener found startling
evidence of cognate Mande cultural items found in the Mayan and
Aztec languages. This cognation suggested that the speakers of these
languages formerly lived in intimate contact with people speaking
Mande languages.
Even though there is considerable linguistic evidence supporting
the view that the Olmec spoke a Mande language. Some researchers,
26
namely Justenson and Kaufman believe that the Olmec spoke a Mixe-
Zoque language, since members of this linguistic group live in the
Tuxtla mountain region, which was a center of Olmec civilization.
There are three problems with the Justenson and Kaufman
decipherments of
Epi-Olmec: 1) there is no clear evidence of Zoque speakers in Olmec
areas 3200
years ago, 2) there is no such thing as a "pre-Proto-Soquean/Zoquean
language,
3)there is an absence of a Zoque substratum in the Mayan languages.
Let’s examine the hypothesis of ,Justenson and Kaufman in their
1997 article claim that they read the Epi-Olmec inscriptions using "pre-
Proto-Zoquean". This is impossible ,a "Pre-Proto" language refers to the
internal reconstruction of vowel patterns, not entire words. Linguists
can reconstruct a pre-proto language , but this language is only related
to internal developments within the target language.
Secondly, Justenson and Kaufman base their claim of a Zoque
origin for the Olmec language on the presence of a few Zoque
speakers around mount Tuxtla. Justeson and Kaufman maintain that
the Olmec people spoke a
Otomanguean language. The Otomanguean family includes Zapotec,
Mixtec and Otomi to name a few. The hypothesis that the Olmec
spoke an Otomanguean language is not supported by the
27
contemporary spatial distribution of the languages spoken in the
Tabasco/Vera Cruz area.
Thomas Lee in R.J. Sharer and D. C. Grove (Eds.), Regional
Perspectives on the Olmecs, New York: Cambridge University Press
(1989, 223) noted that
"...closely Mixe, Zoque and Popoluca languages are spoken in
numerous villages
in a mixed manner having little or no apparent semblance of linguistic
or spatial unity. The general assumption made by the few
investigators who have considered the situation, is that the modern
linguistic pattern is a result of
the disruption of an Old homogeneous language group by more
powerful neighbors or invaders...."
If this linguistic evidence is correct, many of the languages in the
Otomanguean family are spoken by people who may have only
recently settled in
the Olmec heartland, and may not reflect the people that invented the
culture we
call Olmecs today. This view us supported by the Mixe-Zoque oral
tradition.
Lipp (1991) recorded the following Mixe tradition for the origins of
Mixe rituals: “The elders say that there was a people who possessed
considerable knowledge and science and that they could make children
28
sick by simply looking at them. At one time they came from a part of
Vera Cruz and took up residence here. However, they spoke a
different language. Clearly, they were also Mixe but their language
was much modified, and we did not understand the words they spoke.
In place of tum for 'one' we say tu"k, and in place of pagac,
'thirteen', we say mahktugi:k. But they taught [us] much culture,
teachings, and divination, knowledge of the movement of the earth,
sun, the movements of the air, winds, and water. All of this they
knew"(p.77).
This narrative is interesting because it suggest that a group of
strangers for Vera Cruz took culture and civilization to the Mixe. The
fact that the Olmec came from Vera Cruz leads us to assume that this
immigrant group may have been the Olmec people. If the Mixe
received their culture from the Olmecs, like the Maya, we can assume
that the Mixe were not the original Olmec as maintained by
Campbell (1999). Moreover the Mixe languages include many Malinke
loan words:
29
30
Finally, the Justenson and Kaufman hypothesis is not supported by
the
evidence for the origin of the Mayan term for writing. The Mayan term
for
writing is not related to Zoque.
Mayan tradition make it clear that they got writing from another
31
Meso-American group. Landa noted that the Yucatec Maya claimed
that they got
writing from a group of foreigners called Tutul Xiu from Nonoulco
(Tozzer,
1941). Xiu is not the name for the Zoque.
Brown has suggested that the Mayan term c'ib' diffused from the
Cholan and
Yucatecan Maya to the other Mayan speakers. This term is probably
not derived from Mixe-Zoque. If the Maya had got writing from the
Mixe-Zoque, the term for writing would Probably be found in a Mixe-
Zoque language. The research indicates that no word for writing exist
in this language. The absence of a Mixe-Zoque word for writing
indicates that the speakers of this language probably did not invent
the Olmec writing.
Chapter 3: The Olmec/Mande and Mayan Languages
32
Linguistic evidence is the most convicing data supporting a
Mande relationship with the Maya, and the Mande origin of Olmec
culture. The comparative method can helps us confirm or
disconfirm any relationship between the Mayan and Mande
languages.
The comparative method is used by linguists to determine the
relatedness of languages, and to reconstruct earlier language
states. The comparative linguist has two major goals (1) trace
the history of language families and reconstruct the mother
language of each family, and (2) determine the forces which
affect language. In general, comparative linguists are interested
in determining phonetic laws, analogy/ correspondence and loan
words.
Patterns of correspondence is the examination of terms
which show uniformity. This uniformity leads to the inference
that languages are related since conformity of terms in two or
more languages indicate they came from a common ancestor.
A basic objective of the comparative linguist is to isolate
words with common or similar meanings that have systematic
consonantal agreement with little regards for the location and/or
type of vowels. Consonantal agreement is the regular appearance
of consonants at certain locations in words having similar
33
meanings and representing similar speech sounds.
Linguistic resemblances denote a historical relationship.
This suggest that resemblances in fundamental vocabulary and
culture terms can help one reconstruct the culture of the
speakers of genetically related languages. We use historical
linguistic methods to document the history of a languge in both
vocabulary and grammar.
M. Swadesh in "The Language of the Archaeological Haustecs"
(1953), presented evidence that the Huastec and Maya languages
were separated by a new linguistic group around 3200. This is an
interesting date because it was around this time that we see the
rise of the Olmec.
I have proposed that the Olmec spoke a Mande language similar
to Malinke-Bambara. It stands to reason that if this hypothesis
is correct we will find evidence of this relationship in the
languages spoken by the Maya, because they adopted many aspects
of the Olmec culture according to practically all researchers
concerned with Mayan history.
The Olmec settled many early sites in the lands occupied by the Mayan
speaking people.
34
As a result the Mayan speaking people adopted many Olmec/Mande
terms. As a result we find numerous Mande words copied into the
Yucatec and Quiche Mayan languages.
Below we compare the Quiche and Malinke-Bambara languages. The
terms compared in this study come from the following sources:
Delafosse, Maurice.(1929). *La Langue Mandingue et ses
Dialectes (Malinke, Bambara, Dioula)*. Vol 1. Intro. Grammaire,
Lexique Francais Mandingue).Paris: Librarie. Orientaliste Paul
Geuthner
Campbell,Lyle.(1977). Quichean linguistic prehistory .Berkeley :
University of California Press.University of California publications in
linguistics. v. 81
Tedlock,Dennis.(1996). Popol Vuh. New York: A Touchstone Book.
The Mayan languages are spoken in an area from Yucatan and E
Chiapas in Mexico, into much of Guatemala and Belize, and W
Honduras. The Quiche language is a member of the Mayan family,
spoken in the western highlands of Guatemala. It is most closely
related to the Cakchiquel, Tzutujil, Sacapultee, and Sipacapa
languages of central Guatemala and more distantly related to
35
Pocomam, Pocomchí, Kekchí, and other languages of the Eastern
Mayan group .
I have also illustrated sound regularity in relation to Mayan
and Mande lexical items. In my post I noted that:
In Malinke-Bambara the word Ka and Kan means 'serpent, upon
high,and sky'. In Yucatec we find that can/kan and caan/kaan
means ' serpent and heaven'. The fact that both languages share
the same homophonic words , point to a formerly intimate contact
between the speakers of Mayan and Mande languages in ancient
times.
Often we find that Mande words beginning with /s/ , appear as
/c/ ,/x/ or /k/ in the Mayan languages. For example, Malinke Bambara,
the
word sa means 'sell, to buy and market'. This is related to Mayan
con 'to sell', and can 'serpent'. In Quiche we have ka:x 'sky' which
corresponds
to Mande sa / ka 'sky'. In Quiche many words beginning with /ch/
correspond to Mande words possessing an initial /k/, e.g.,
Quiche Malinke-Bambara
36
ch'ich' bird kono
achi man kye
chi>ic bite ki
chhix rock kaba
37
It is also interesting to note that many Quiche words beginning with /x/ which
is pronounced 'sh', correspond to Malinke-Bamabara words with an initial /s/
e.g.,
Quiche Malinke-Bambara
xab' rain sa
ixa? seed si
uxe root sulu, suru
Other Quiche and Mande cognates include:
Quiche Malinke-Bambara
saq'e daytime,sunlight sa 'heaven, sky'
k'i many kika
38
ja lineage, family ga, gba
ja water ji
q'aq fire ga-ndi
palo lake, sea ba, b'la
k'oto to carve, cut ka
k':um squash kula, kura
Ba father fa
Ba lord Ba 'great' (Person)
ka 'land,earth' ka 'suffix joined to names of
lands,etc.
ich eye n'ya
39
le the, that, this le
ma no ma
naal parent, mother na
ni point, at the point na
cah earth, land ka (see above)
balam jaguar/tiger balan 'leopard worship'
sib' smoke sisi
xolo:m head ku
xuku? boat, canoe kulu
ca<al neck ka
40
qul neck ka
k'u?sh chest kesu
k'o:x mask ku
pu:m stomach furu
pach bark fara
The Quiche and Malinke-Bambara cognates show the following patterns
a------->a c------->s
o------->u c------->k
u------->a z------->s
x s k------->k
41
x k p------->f
q------->k ch------>k
Below we compared Yucatec and Malinke-Bambara terms. I have
placed the page number where each Mayan term can be found in Maurice
Swadesh, Critina Alvarez and Juan R. Bastarrachea's, " Diccionario de
Elementos del Maya Yucatec Colonial" (Mexico: Universidad Nacional
Autonoma de Mexico Centro de Estudios Mayas, 1970). The Malinke-
Bambara terms come from
Delafosse, Maurice.(1929). *La Langue Mandingue et ses Dialectes
(Malinke, Bambara, Dioula)*. Vol 1. Intro. Grammaire, Lexique
Francais Mandingue).Paris: Librarie. Orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
Phonetic correspondences exists between the Malinke-Bambara
and Yucatec. There is full agreement between k, m,n, and t. There
is also assimilation of c to k, z to s.
Yucatec Malinke Bambara
42
z s
zuu, 'joined,unite su,' shape p.95
zul 'to wet' su, 'precipitation p.95
zou, 'to entagle' su, 'be i mixture' p.95
zay, 'assemble' se, 'join' p.94
c k
earth cab ka p.15
serpent can kan p.18
rock chhix kaba
to cause cal ku
43
sky caan ka p.15, p.38
village cah ka 'suffix joined to names of towns p.15
maize co 'grain of maize' ka p.40
k k
sun kin k'le p.58
buckle kal koli p.57
to kill kim ki
sky kan kan
44
god, sacre ku ku, ko p.60
t t
man ta' tye p.79
come tal ta p.79
to cover too tu
law toh tu
truth toh tu, 'fact, real' p.81
forest te tu
45
male ton,'male sexual organ' tye, khon p.81
saliva tub tu p.82
b b
went,gone bin bi p.36
water bak ba
water ha a p.15
lord ba ba
arrows been bine
balan 'jaguar'/tiger balan 'leopard worship' p.17
n n
46
mother na' na p.66
house nu nu
house na nu p.66
nose ni nu p.16
p p
to be pe pe
to break pa'a pe p.71
There are many Maya and Manding cognate kinship terms
including:
47
Maya English Manding
naal parent,mother na
ba father pa
ba lord ba
An examination of Mayan and Mande homophones also indicates
striking similarity. There is a connection between Malinke-
Bambara and Yucatec homonyms for 'high, sky and serpent'.
In Malinke-Bambara the word Ka and Kan means 'serpent, upon
high,and sky'. In Yucatec we find that can/kan and caan/kaan
means ' serpent and heaven'. The fact that both languages share
the same homophonic words , point to a formerly intimate contact
between the speakers of Mayan and Mande languages in ancient
times.
Often we find that Mande words beginning with /s/ , appear as
/c/ in the Mayan languages. For example, Malinke Bambara, the
word sa means 'sell, to buy and market'. This is related to Mayan
con 'to sell', and can 'serpent'. For example we have
48
Mayan Malinke-Bambara
can serpent sa
con to sell sa, san
caan heaven, sky sa
cah 'small village' so 'village, home'
The copying of Mande /s/ words into Mayan lexicons as /c/ words
are probably the result of phonological interference of Mayan /c/, which
influenced how Malinke-Bambara words were lexicalized by biligual Yucatec
speakers. Interference occurs when speakers carry features from their
first language over into a second language. Thus, we have Yucatec con
49
'to sell', and Malinke-Bambara san 'to sell.
Phonetic correspondences exists between the Malinke-Bambara
and Yucatec. There is full agreement between k, m,n, and t. There
is also assimilation of c to k, z to s.
Yucatec Malinke Bambara
z s
zuu, 'joined,unite su,' shape p.95
zul 'to wet' su, 'precipitation p.95
zou, 'to entagle' su, 'be i mixture' p.95
zay, 'assemble' se, 'join' p.94
c k
earth cab ka p.15
serpent can kan p.18
rock chhix kaba
to cause cal ku
sky caan ka p.15, p.38
village cah ka 'suffix joined to
names of towns p.15
maize co 'grain of maize' ka p.40
k k
sun kin k'le p.58
buckle kal koli p.57
50
to kill kim ki
sky kan kan
god, sacre ku ku, ko p.60
t t
man ta' tye p.79
come tal ta p.79
to cover too tu
law toh tu
truth toh tu, 'fact, real' p.81
forest te tu
male ton,'male sexual organ' tye, khon p.81
saliva tub tu p.82
b b
went,gone bin bi p.36
water bak ba
water ha a p.15
lord ba ba
arrows been bine
balam 'jaguar'/tiger balan 'leopard worship' p.17
n n
mother na' na p.66
51
house nu nu
house na nu p.66
nose ni nu p.16
p p
to be pe pe
to break pa'a pe p.71
Phonetic correspondences exists between the Malinke-Bambara
Yucatec and Quiche. There is full agreement between k, m,n, and t. There
is also assimilation of c to k, z to s.
Yucatec, Quiche Malinke Bambara
zuu, 'joined,unite su,' shape
zul 'to wet' su, 'precipitation
zou, 'to entagle' su, 'be i mixture'
zay, 'assemble' se, 'join'
earth cab ka
serpent can kan
rock chhix kaba
to cause cal ku
sky caan ka
village cah ka 'suffix joined to
names of towns
52
maize co 'grain of maize' ka
sun kin k'le
buckle kal koli
to kill kim ki
sky kan kan
god, sacre ku ku, ko
k'oto 'to carve' ka 'to cut
squash k':um 'ayote' kula, kura
man ta' tye
to place ta ta
to cover too tu
law toh tu
truth toh tu, 'fact, real'
forest te tu
male ton,'male sexual organ' tye, khon
saliva tub tu
went,gone bin bi
water bak ba
water ha a
53
lord ba ba
arrows been binye
balam 'jaguar'/tiger balan 'leopard worship'
mother na' na
house nu nu
house na nu
nose ni nu
to be pe pe
to break pa'a pe
seed ixa? si
rain xab sa
head xolo:m ku
boat xuxu? kulu
neck ca<al ka
neck qul ka
chest k'u'sh kesu
rain ka:x sa, ka
mask k'o:x ku
water ja ji
stomach pu:m furu
54
bark pach fara
rain cha'ac sa, san, sanji
bird ch'ich kono
man achi kye
bite chi>ic ki
no ma:n ma
smoke sib' sisi
you a a
I n'en, in ne, ni
you ech e
These cognates show the following patterns
a------->a c------->s
o------->u c------->k
u------->a z------->s
x s k------->k
x k p------->f
q------->k ch------>k
Many of the Mayan sites were first settled by the Olmec.
This is supported by the fact that the Mayan inscriptions from Palenque
claim that the first ruler of this city was the Olmec leader U-Kix-chan.
In addition, some Mayan kings were styled Kuk according to Mary Miller
55
and Karl Taube,in "The Gods and symbols of ancient Mexico and Maya, said
this
term was also used in the Olmec inscriptions, like those from Tuxtla, to
denote the local ruler of many Olmec sites. It was probably during this
period of contact that the Maya began to copy Mande terms and
incorporate them in their lexicon.
This comparison of Quiche and Yucatec to the Mande languages is a
valid way to illustrate the ancient relationship between the Pre-Classic Maya
and Mande speaking
Olmec. Archaeologist and epigraphers no longer believe that the Classic
Maya inscriptions were only written in Cholan Maya. Now scholars
recognize that many Mayan inscriptions written during the Classic
period were written in Yucatec and probably the language spoken in the area
where the Mayan inscriptions are found. See:
1. R. J. Sharer," Diversity and Continuity in Maya
civilization: Quirigua as a case study", in (Ed.) T. Patrick Culbert,
Classic Maya Political History,( New York:Cambridge University Press, 1996)
p. 187.
2. N. Hammond, "Inside the black box:defining Maya polity".
In (Ed.) T. Patrick Culbert, Classic Maya Political History,
( New York:Cambridge University Press, 1996) p.254
56
3. J.S. Justeson, W. M. Norman, L. Campbell, & T.S. Kaufman, The
Foreign impact on Lowland Mayan languages ans Script. Middle American
Research Institute, Publication 53. New Orleans: Tulane University, 1985.
This would also explain why the Maya, according to Landa had Universities
where elites learned writing and other subjects. He noted that the Ahkin May
or Ahuacan May (High Priest) "...and his disciples appointed the priests for
the towns, examining them in their sciences and ceremonies...he provided
their books and sent them forth. They in turn attended to the service of the
temples, teaching their sciences and writing books upon them" (see: Friar
Diego de Landa, Yucatan before and After the Conquest, (trs.) by William
Gates, Dover Publications ,New York, 1978).
There is a clear prevalence of an African substratum for the origin of writing
among the Maya. All the experts agree that the Olmec people probably gave
writing to the Maya. Mayanist agree that the Brown (1991) found that the
Proto Maya term for "write" is *c'ihb' or *c'ib'. Since the Olmec people
probably spoke a Mande language, the Mayan term for writing would
probably correspond to the Mande term for writing. A comparison of these
terms confirmed this hypothesis. The Mayan term for writing *c'ib' or *c'ihb'
is derived from the Olmec/Manding term for writing *se'be'. The ancient
Mayans wrote their inscriptions in Chol, Yucatec and probably Quiche.
57
The Proto Olmec or Manding people formerly lived in North Africa in the
Saharan Highlands : and Fezzan.(see C. A. Winters, "The Migration routes of
the Proto Mande", The Mankind Quarterly 27(1), (1986) pp.77 98) . Here the
ancestors of the Olmecs left their oldest inscription written in the Manding
script (which some people call Libyco Berber, eventhough they can not be
read in Berber) : was found at Oued Mertoutek and dated by Wulsin in ,
Papers of the peabody Museum of American Arcaheology and Ethnology
(Vol.19(1), 1940), to 3000 B.C. This indicates that the Manding hand writing
2000 years before they settled the Gulf of Mexico.
These Proto-Olmec people lived in the Highlands of the Sahara. Here we
find numerous depictions of boats engraved in the rock formations that these
people used to navigate the Sahara before it became a desert.
The Olmec, another Central American culture and probably the first
Americans to develop a number and math system, influenced their Mayan
neighbors. Mayans borrowed much of their art and architecture from the
Olmecs, including the pyramid structures that the Mayans are so famous for.
The first of these great Mayan structures appeared between 400 B.C. and
150 A.D.
58
It is time that we stop the name calling and work together to explain
to the world the African presence in ancient America.
Many of these words are from the basic vocabulary. They support
the hypothesis that in ancient times Mayan speakers lived in intimate
contact with the Mande speaking Olmec people.
Moreover this is further confirmation of Leo Wiener's theory in
Africa and the Discovery of America that the religion and culture of the
Meso-Americans was influenced by Mande speaking people from West
Africa.
-
Chapter 4: The Olmec Phonology
The Olmec language is an agglutinative language. Words are
formed in Olmec by the addition of suffixes to Olmec morphemes.
Due to homophony of Olmec monosyllabic signs the same sign and
its word form can have multiple meanings. To understand Olmec
writing you must use the acrophonic principle to interpret the Olmec
logosyllabic signs.
The unit of the Olmec logosyllabary is consonant ( C) and vowel (V)
or CCV. Each symbol can have multiple meanings.
The Olmec consonant system is as follows
p t k kp
b d g gb
f s h
w r y
m n ŋ
The Olmec consonants have the following pronounciation
B boy p pure
D dog r ran
Gy jump s saw
F full t tip
G gull ŋ sing
K canvas
L log
M man
N note
In Olmec nasal consonants occur in initial position before another
sonsonant. For example, n’ is pronounced m before p and kb; n’ is
pronounced ŋ before k and g.
Pronouns
The are three pronouns in the Olmec inscriptions. They are :
n , I, me
I i , you, your
a , it, he; she
. In Olmec the pronoun is usually suffixed to the morpheme, but it
can also occur in the initial position. For example,
a
a ku yu
literal translation (Lit.) it leading tomb
“ It is a leading tomb”.
A ku po bu-mbo gyu
Lit. He Govenor pure gigantic spirit of
tranquility
“He is a Governor of gigantic purity the source of spiritual tranquility”.
A ku ni
Lit. He in possession principle of life
“He is in possession of the principle of life”.
A ku po
Lit. it stem pure
“It is a pure stem”.
A ta ni ngba i
Lit. it here soul home thou
“ It is here. (This) is the home of your soul”.
The most common pronoun in Olmec was the second person
pronoun –i .
The pronoun i, means thine, thou, you and your. For example,
Sè i
Lit. successful thou
“Thou art successful”.
Po i to/tu
Lit. pure your King
“Your pure King”.
I la gyo
Lit. thou firmly situation divinity
“Thou (art) firmly situated with the divinity”.
I po
Lit. Thou pure
I gyo pa
Lit. thou cult leader admiration
“Thou (art) a cult leader of admiration”
There is only one example of the first person pronoun n’, in the
Olmec inscriptions. This phrase is nde po tu ta , Lit. my union purity
rule sacred. The translation is “My union (with) purity and sacred rule”
or it could read “My union (with) purity (and) rule of the mystic order”.
Chapter 5: Olmec Nouns
There are three types of nouns in Olmec. These nouns represent
inanimate and animate objects and qualities held to be superior traits
for mankind.
Inanimate Nouns
Bi, custom (habit), times of narration
Bolo, vestibule
Da prize
fa, container, place spot,
proximity
fa, abundance, full,
plenitude; love
fo, salutations
ga , hearth, home
gbe, cleasing, sanctified
II gyo, amulet, talisman effective in providing one with virtue
Ka, family maison, family house
kè, to study, learn, read
ki, order, commandment, law, envoy on a mission, raising
star
O
Ta ki
“Sacred raising star”
kyu, tomb
la, good situation, apogee, foundation, gone to bed
la po tu
“The pure craftsman of the cult association”.
mè, understanding, judgment, comprehension;
skill
(n)de, uncultivated land, uncultivated land near a river
nga, glow
ngba, home
sa, air, heaven, end
, su, city, home, village, home, domicle,
village
, O ta, habitation, place
ta ku
“(This) place (is) tops”.
to, place of rest
tu, refuge, abode
yo / yu , large hemisphere tomb
yu to ta se
large hemisphere tomb place of rest here realize
“ Here to be realized the large hemisphere tomb as a place of rest”.
Animate nouns include the following terms.
Ba, powerful, spirit body
Bo, great, moral gradeur, to merit
II Gyo-se, descendant of the divinity, son of god
, Ku, head, Govenor
Kye, ‘man’
La, craftsman, artisan
Sa, excellency, lord
II Se gyo, supporter of the divinity
, Tu / to, King, head of government, law
Nouns of Quality
The are a number of Olmec nouns that describe a human quality or
state of existence. These nouns include the following:
Bu , state of retreat
Fe, desire, wish
Fa, possession
Gina, “to be endowed with mysterious faculties”
Gyu, spiritual tranquility
Ngbe, white, favorable
ni, principal of life
po, purity, righteous
se, clever, victorious, power
ta, sacred object, mystic order, propriety
yo, vital spirit, image of the race
Below are a number of quality nouns used in Olmec sentences.
1. , fe po kye
“The pure wish for order”
Chapter 6: The Olmec Adjectives and Adverbs
There are a number of adjectives in the Olmec language. The most
common Olmec adjectives include the following:
Ba, grand, great, strong, robust
Bo, to finish
Bu, ample, big, large;
Bu-mbo, size, bulk, bigness, gigantic
Da, grand (used to describe dignitaries, and elites)
Pè, vast, huge, immense
Po, pure, purity
Su, vigorous
, Ku, leading
In Olmec the adjective usually follows the noun or verb. Here we
have –ba, which is joined to nouns to denote the idea of greatness,
physical or moral, e.g., a kyè ba, “This man is great”. For example
let’s look at the adjectives: bu, and pè:
1. Tyu a ki bu
Lit. Tomb his laws ample
Trans. “His tomb (is) ample Law”.
2. Tu pe I pè
Lit. “ King prodigious is superior”.
Trans. “The prodigious king is superior”.
In many cases the pronoun usually follows the adjective in Olmec
sentences. The most common pronoun in Olmec is –a , ‘he, she, it’.
For example,
ba ku la
1. La ku ba
Lit. dormitory Governor large i
Trans. “The Governor’s large dormitory ”.
a ba ku la
La ku ba-a
Lit dormitory Governor large it
Trans. “The Governor’s dormitory (family burial site) it is large”.
In some cases the adjective is placed before the noun. This is
especially true in relation to the adjective pè , ‘extensive, vast, and
important’. For example,
1. Pè kyu
Lit. “Prodigious Tomb”.
2. Pè gyo a kye ba
Lit. important effective wonder making power he man/personage
considerable
Trans. “He is indeed an important personage (with) considerable
wonder making powers”.
3. Pè gyo po ni
Lit. vast talisman pure soul
Trans. “A vast talisman is the pure soul”
4. Po ka I se
Lit. pure family mansion your realized
Trans. “Your pure family mansion is realized (here)”.
Chapter 7: Adverbs
In Olmec there are five adverbs. Like the adjectives in Olmec the
adverb can be placed either at the beginning of a sentence or after a
noun or verb. For example,
a, ‘indeed’
1. a I pè gyu
Lit. indeed thou assumed source of spiritual tranquility
Trans. “Thou indeed (have) assumed the (posture) (of a) source (of)
spiritual tranquility”.
The term pè , ‘indeed’ is also an adverb. For example,
2. la pe ta pè
Lit. craftsman prodigious superior indeed
Trans. “The prodigious craftsman indeed, is superior”.
In addition to bè , representing the verb ‘to be’, it can also
represent the adverb ‘here’ and ‘very much’. For example,
3. Bè ni gyo
Lit. Here/ very much propriety talisman
Trans. “This talisman has very much propriety”.
Olmec adverbs da “ now, at this moment” and
bi, “, present, moment, and coincidence’ are frequently used . For
example,
4. yu po gbe bi
Lit. big hemisphere tomb sanctified at present
Trans. “The big hemisphere tomb at this moment is sanctified”.
5. da bu po I ki
Lit. at this moment in state of retreat purity thou an envoy on a
mission
Trans. “At this moment (you are) in a state of retreat, thou purity (is
like) an envoy on a mission (to spread good)”.
6. ta la da bo
Lit. sacred object craftsman grand moral grandeur
Trans. “Sacred object (of) the grand Craftsman of moral grandeur”.
Other Olmec adverbs include li ‘indeed’, ta ‘here, and ku
‘cleansing’. For example,
7. li gyo
Lit. “Indeed a specialist of the cult/religious order”.
8. lit u
Lit. “Indeed, the Ruler”.
9. ni lu nga ta
Lit. propriety much glow here
Trans. “Much propriety glows here”.
10. po mi ta
Lit. pure imbibitions here
Trans. “Here are pure imbibitions”.
11. su po ku i nu
Lit. offer libations pure cleansing thou habitation
Trans. “Offer pure cleansing libations in though habitation”.
Chapter 8: Olmec Articles
The article ‘the, this, etc.’, are usually not written in the Olmec
inscriptions. But there are to frequently used articles in Olmec
i ‘the, this’, and tu ‘this’. These articles are
usually suffixed to adjectives especially po ‘pure, purity’. For example,
1. gyo po
Lit. talisman effective in providing one with virtue pure
Trans. “pure talisman effective in providing one with virtue”
Gyo po-i
Lit. talisman effective in providing one with virtue pure this
Trans. “This pure talisman effective in providing one with virtue”.
2. fa po tu
Lit. container pure Law
Trans. “Container of the pure Law”
I fa po tu
Lit. this container pure law
Trans. “This container (of) the pure Law”.
Chapter 9: Olmec Sentence
The Olmec inscriptions provide us with several sentence patterns,
depending on the type of inscriptions. The terseness of the Olmec
inscriptions allowed considerable grammatical license in the
inscriptions.
The favorite sentence pattern of a language includes a subject (S),
verb (V) and object (O). The order of Olmec sentences vary, but the
usual sentence pattern is SVO. For example,
ni bè ta
1. ta bè ni
Lit. habitation very much propriety
Trans. “This habitation has very much propriety”.
su ta fa tu
2. tu fa ta su
Lit. abode possession partisan of the mystic order offer up libations
Trans. “This abode is in the possession of the partisan of the mystic
order, (here) offer up libations”.
3. su i su
Lit. domicile is honored as a libation
Trans. “This domicile is honored as a libation”.
4. tu yu ta i ngbe
Lit. king tomb sacred object is unblemished
Trans. “The king’s tomb is a sacre unblemished object”.
5. ki ku lu
Lit. the order to touch from a distance hold it upright
Trans. “(He) touches from a distance the order (of the cult), to hold it
upright”.
There are also some VSO sentences in Olmec. The VSO sentences
are usually short statements. For example,
1. tu gbe
Lit. cause to grow righteousness
2. da bo
Lit. arrange moral gradeur.
3. ta me
Lit. welcome understanding
Chapter 10: The Olmec Writing
The second source of evidence for the African origin of the Olmecs
comes from the writing of the Maya and Olmec people. As mentioned
earlier most experts believe that the Mayan writing system came from
the Olmecs (Soustelle, 1984). The evidence of African style writing
among the Olmecs is evidence for Old World influence in Mexico.
The Olmec people introduced writing to the New World. Many Meso-
American accept the possibility that the Olmecs were the first to 1)
invent a complex system of chronology; 2) a method of calculating
time; and 3) a hieroglyphic script which was later adopted by the
Izapan and Mayan civilizations (Soustelle, 1984). As a result, the Olmec
people left numerous inscriptions on monuments, celts and portable
artifacts that give us keen insight into the Olmec culture, religion and
politics.
Over a decade ago Winters (1979, 1997) deciphered the Olmec
writing and discovered that you could read the Olmec inscriptions
using the sound value of the Vai signs. The Olmecs spoke and aspect
of the Manding (Malinke-Bambara) language spoken in West Africa
(Winters, 1979, 1980, 1981,1984).
Scholars have long recognized that the Olmecs engraved many
symbols or signs on pottery, statuettes, batons/scepters, stelas and
bas reliefs that have been regarded as a possible form of writing (Coe,
1965; Gay ,1973; Popenoe and Hatch , 1971 ; Soustelle, 1984). These
experts accept the view that the system of dots and bars whether
associated with glyphs or not, found on Olmec artifacts probably
indicated their possession of a system of chronology (Soustelle, 1984).
As a result, we find that the Olmec monuments: Altar 7, of LaVenta;
Stela no.7 of LaVenta; Monument E at Tres Zapotes; Stela C of Tres
Zapotes; and the Tuxtla statuette are engraved with calendrical
information (Morell, 1991; Soustelle, 1984).
Although many Meso-Americanists accept the view that the Olmecs
possessed calendrical symbols controversy surrounds the presence of
writing among the Olmecs. Wiener (1922) and Lawrence (1961) have
maintained that the Olmec writing was identical to the Manding writing
used in Africa. Michael Coe and John Justeson (until recently), on the
otherhand believe that the Olmecs possessed a form of iconography
but not writing (Morell, 1991).
Many theories have been promoted in relation to the origin of
Olmec writing. Some researchers claim it may be related to the Oracle
bone writing of the ancient Chinese.
Michael Xu assistant professor of Chinese Studies at Texas
Christian University has proposed that the Olmec people may have
written in the Chinese language. He based his opinion on the alleged
similarity between the Olmec writing and the Shang writing.
The Chinese wrote their inscriptions on Oracle bones. These Oracle
bone inscriptions were written by the Shang people to divine the
This theory is fine except for the fact that the Olmec writing has
little affinity to the Shang writing. Moreover some of the alleged
similarities found by Dr. Xu do not relate to Shang witing at all. A
careful examination of the Shang table below and
the Oracle bone inscriptions clearly show that none of these signs are
identical to the Olmec writing found on the LaVenta celt as claimed by
Professor Xu.
A Cursory examination of the Shang signs depicted in table ____
clearly show that they do not match the alleged Shang signs identified
by Xu in his article. In fact, a comparison of the actual signs on the
LaVenta celt and the alleged "Shang" signs lack any agreement.
The view that Africans originated writing in America is not new.
Scholars early recognized the affinity between Amerindian scripts and
the Mande script(s).
By 1832, Rafinesque noted the similarities between the Mayan
glyphs and the Libyco-Berber writing. And Leo Wiener (1922, v.3), was
the first researcher to recognize the resemblance's between the
Manding writing and the symbols on the Tuxtla statuette. In addition,
Harold Lawrence (1962) noted that the "petroglyphic" inscriptions
found throughout much of the southern hemisphere compared
identically with the writing system of the Manding.
The Olmecs have left numerous symbols or signs inscribed on
pottery, statuettes, batons/scepters, stelas and bas-reliefs that have
been recognized as writing ( Soustelle, 1984; von Wuthenau, 1980;
Winters, 1979). The view that the Olmecs were the first Americans to
1) invent a complex system of chronology, 2) a method of calculating
time, and 3) a hieroglyphic script which was later adopted by Izapan
and Mayan civilizations, is now accepted by practically all Meso-
American specialist (Soustelle, 1984).
The Olmecs probably founded writing in the Mexico. Schele and
Freide (1990) have discussed the Olmec influence over the Maya. This
agreed with Brainerd and Sharer's, The ancient Maya (1983, p.65)
concept of colonial Olmec at Mayan sites. Moreover, this view is
supported by the appearance of jaguar stucco mask pyramids
(probably built by the Olmecs) under Mayan pyramids e.g., Cerros
Structure 5-C-2nd, Uxaxacatun pyramid and structure 5D-22 at Tikal.
This would conform to Schele and Freidel's belief that the monumental
structures of the Maya were derived from Olmec prototypes.
An Olmec origin for many PreClassic Maya sites, would explain the
cover-up of the jaguar stucco mask pyramids with classic Maya
pyramids at these sites. It would also explain Schele and Freidel's
(1990) claim that the first king of Palenque was the Olmec leader U-
Kix-chan; and that the ancient Maya adopted many Olmec social
institutions and Olmec symbolic imagery.
Over a decade ago I deciphered the Olmec writing and discovered
that you could read the Maya inscriptions using the sound value of the
Olmec signs--read in Yucatec. The Olmecs spoke and aspect of the
Manding (Malinke-Bambara) language spoken in West Africa (Winters,
1979, 1980, 1981,1984).
B. Stross (1973) mentions the Mayan tradition for a foreign origin of
Mayan writing. This idea is also confirmed by Mayan oral tradition
(Tozzer, 1941), and C.H. Brown (1991) who claimed that writing did not
exist among the Proto-Maya.
Terrence Kaufman has proposed that the Olmec spoke a Mexe-
Zoquean speech and therefore the authors of Olmec writing were
Mexe-Zoquean speakers. This view fails to match the epigraphic
evidence. The Olmec people spoke a Manding (Malinke-Bambara)
language and not Zoquean.
There is a clear African substratum for the origin of writing among the
Maya (Wiener, 1922). All the experts agree that the Olmec people gave the
Maya people writing (Schele & Freidel, 1990; Soustelle, 1984). Mayanist also
agree that the Proto-Maya term for writing was *c'ihb' or *c'ib'.
_____________________________________________________________Figure 1. Mayan
Terms for Writing
Yucatec c'i:b' Chorti c'ihb'a Mam c'i:b'at
Lacandon c'ib' Chol c'hb'an Teco c'i:b'a
Itza c'ib' Chontal c'ib' Ixil c'ib'
Mopan c'ib' Tzeltalan c'ib'
Proto-Term for write *c'ib'
The Mayan /c/ is often pronounced like the hard Spanish /c/ and has a /s/
sound. Brown (1991) argues that *c'ihb may be the ancient Mayan term for
writing but, it can not be Proto-Mayan because writing did not exist among
the Maya until 600 B.C. This was 1500 years after the break up of the Proto-
Maya (Brown, 1991).
Landa makes it clear that supports the linguistic evidence (Tozzer, 1941).
Landa noted that the Yucatec Maya claimed that they got writing from a
group of foreigners called Tutul Xiu from Nonoulco (Tozzer, 1941).
The Tutul Xi were probably Manding speaking Olmecs. The term Tutul
Xiu, can be translated using Manding as follows:
Tutul1, "Very good subjects of the Order".
Xiu2, "The Shi (/the race)".
"The Shis (who) are very good Subjects of the cult-Order".
The term Shi, is probably related to the Manding term Si, which was also
used as an ethnonym.
The Mayan term for writing is derived from the Manding term
*se'be. Below are the various terms for writing used by the Manding/Mande
people for writing.
_____________________________________________________________Figure
2.Manding Term for Writing
Malinke se'be Serere safe
Bambara se'be Susu se'be
Dioula se'we' Samo se'be
Sarakole safa W. Malinke safa
Proto-Term for writing *se'be , *safâ
_____________________________________________________________
Brown has suggested that the Mayan term c'ib' diffused from the Cholan
and Yucatecan Maya to the other Mayan speakers. This term is probably
derived from Manding *Se'be which is analogous to *c'ib'. This would explain
the identification of the Olmec or Xi/Shi people as Manding speakers.
1. This -l, in Tutu-l, is probably the suffix of augmentation.
2. The -u, element is the plural suffix for the Manding languages.
There are other Mayan terms that are derived from the Olmec language.
Below we provide lexical evidence of the affinity between Yucatec Maya and
Olmec-Manding:
MAYA Olmec-Manding
bak water, river ba
balan jaguar balam
ba lord ba
ku sacred, god ko
kan snake ka
ka earth, land ka
kaan sky, heaven ka
kan maize ka
na mother na
na, nu house nu
toh law te
ch'ul holy jo
ma great ma
pib hole in ground, underground pe, p
In summary , the Mayan term for writing was derived from the Olmec
people who introduced writing to the Maya when they met at Nonoulco.
These Manding speaking people came to Mexico in twelve waves of
immigrants around 1200 B.C.
Method of Decipherment
In 1979, I announced the decipherment of the Olmec writing (Winters,
1979). It is generally accepted that the decipherment of an unknown
language/script requires 1) bilingual texts and/or 2) knowledge of the
cognate language(s). It has long been felt by many Meso-Americanist that
the Olmec writing met non of these criteria because, no one knew exactly
what language was spoken by the Olmec that appear suddenly at San
Lorenzo and La Venta in Veracruz, around 1200 B.C.
This was a false analogy. There has been for over 50 years evidence that
the Olmec people probably wrote there inscriptions in the Manding language
and the Manding writing from North Africa called Libyco-Berber, was used to
write the Olmec language
To decipher an unknown script it is unnecessary to reconstruct the Proto-
language of the authors of the target script. In both the major decipherments
of ancient scripts, e.g., cuneiform and Egyptian, contemporary languages in
their synchronic states were used to gleam insight into the reading of dead
languages. No one can deny, that it was Champolion's knowledge of Coptic,
that led to his successful decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
The view that Africans originated writing in America is not new. Scholars
early recognized the affinity between Amerindian scripts and the Mande
script(s).
By 1832, Rafinesque noted the similarities between the Mayan glyphs and
the Libyco-Berber writing. And Leo Wiener (1922, v.3), was the first
researcher to recognize the resemblances between the Manding writing and
the symbols on the Tuxtla statuette. In addition, Harold Lawrence (1962)
noted that the "petroglyphic" inscriptions found throughout much of the
southern hemisphere compared identically with the writing system of the
Manding.
Rafinesque (1832) published an important paper on the Mayan writing
that helped in the decipherment of the Olmec Writing. In this paper he
discussed the fact that when the Mayan glyphs were broken down into their
constituent parts, they were analogous to the ancient Libyco-Berber writing .
The Libyco-Berber writing can not be read in either Berber or Taurag, even
though these people use an alphabetic script similar to the Libyco-Berber
script which is syllabic CV and CVC in structure.
This was an important article because it offered the possibility that the
Mayan signs could be read by comparing them to the Libyco-Berber symbols
(Rafineque, 1832). This was not a farfetched idea, because we know for a
fact that the cuneiform writing was used to write four different languages:
Sumerian, Hittite, Assyrian and Akkadian.
I was able to read the Libyco-Berber signs because they are analogous to
the Mande signs recorded by Delafosse (1899).
These Mande speakers, or the Si people , now centered in West Africa
and the Sahelian region formerly lived in an area where Libyco-Berber
inscriptions are found (Winters, 1983, 1986). Using the Manding languages I
have been able to decipher the Libyco-Berber inscriptions (Winters, 1983).
The second clue to the Manding origin of the Olmec writing was provided
by Leo Wiener in Africa and the Discovery of America (1922,v.3). Wiener
presented evidence that the High Civilizations of Mexico (Maya and Aztecs)
had acquired many of the cultural and religious traditions of the Malinke-
Bambara (Manding people) of West Africa. In volume 3, of Africa and the
Discovery of America, Wiener discussed the analogy between the glyphs on
the Tuxtla statuette and the Manding glyphs engraved on rocks in
Mandeland.
I was able to test the hypothesis of Rafinesque and Wiener through a
comparison of the signs inscribed on the Tuxtla statuette and the La Venta
celts ( Winters, 1979). Using the should values from the Manding symbols, to
read the La Venta celts I was able to decipher both the celts and other
Olmec inscriptions.
The Mande people often refer to themselves as Sye or Si 'black, race,
family, etc.'. The Si people appear to have been mentioned by the Maya
(Tozzer, 1941). Tozzer (1941) claimed that the Yucatec Maya said that the
Tutul Xiu (shiu), a group of foreigners from zuiva, in Nonoualoco territory
taught the Maya how to read and write. This term Xiu agrees with the name
Si, for the Manding people (also it should be noted that in the Manding
languages the plural number is formed by the suffix -u, -wu).
Progress in deciphering the Olmec writing has depended largely on a
knowledge of the Malinke-Bambara (Manding) languages and the Vai writing
system (Delofosse, 1899). This language is monosyllabic. The terms in the
Manding languages explain the characteristics of the Olmec civilization.
The Olmec inscriptions are primarily of three types 1) talismanic
inscriptions found on monuments, statuettes, vessels, masks, and celts; 2)
obituaries found on celts and other burial artifacts; and 3) signs on scepters
denoting political authority.
The Olmec script has two forms or stages : 1) syllabic and 2) hieroglyphic.
The syllabic script was employed in the Olmec writing found on the masks,
celts, statuettes and portable artifacts in general. The hieroglyphic script is
usually employed on bas-reliefs, stelas (i.e., Mojarra, and tomb wall writing.
The only exception to this rule for Olmec writing was the Tuxtla statuette.
Olmec was an agglutinative language. Olmec had mixed syntactic
constituents because of its use of affixes. The basic word order for Olmec
was subject (S), object (O), and vowel (V) in simple declarative sentences.
Due to the use of several prefixes in Olmec there are some VO sentences in
the corpus of Olmec inscriptions.
The Olmec script has 13 consonants:
k
g
d -d-
t
n
b -b-
f
p
m
y -y-
l
w
s
In the Olmec script the consonants k, m, and n, was often placed in front
of selected Olmec words, e.g., be : mbe, ngbe; and pe: Kpe. In these
instances the nasal consonant can be dropped, and the monosyllabic word
following the initial consonant element can be read , e.g., Kpe= pe '
spacious, pin down, flat lands, etc. Thusly, the appearance of CCV or CCCV
Olmec forms are the result of the addition of initial consonantal elements to
monosyllabic Olmec terms.
Chapter 11: Syllabic Writing
The famous inscribed celts of offering no.4 LaVenta, indicate both the
plain (Fig. 1) and cursive syllabic Olmec scripts (Fig. 2). In the cursive form of
the writing the individual syllabic signs are joined to one another, in the plain
Olmec writing the signs stand alone. The cursive Olmec script probably
evolved into Olmec hieroglyphics.
The inscriptions engraved on celts and batons are more rounded than the
script used on masks, statuettes and bas-reliefs. The pottery writing on the
Los Bocas and Tlatilco ware are also in a fine rounded style.
In this chapter we will use the inscribed celts found at La Venta in 1955,
at offering No.4, the inscribed jadeite celt from near El Sitio, and the Black
Stone Serpent Scepter of Cardenas, Tabasco as examples of the Olmec
writing. All the translations of Olmec artifacts are based on the Manding
dictionary of Delafosse (1921).
The celts of La Venta offering no.4, were discovered by Drucker in 1955.
These celts show both the plain and cursive forms of the Olmec script. These
inscribed celts were part of a collection of 16 figurines and jade and
serpentine found in offering no.4 (Soustelle, 1984).
In La Venta offering no.4, fifteen figurines were arranged around a central
figure. According to the inscriptions on the celts in this collection, the
personage buried in this tomb was Pè. The bold head of Pè suggest that he
was their cult leader.
A pit had been dug over the incised celts and figurines, a hole leading
from the earth's surface down to the burial cache suggest that this was used
for pouring libations on the figurines. This view is supported by the fact that
the inscriptions written in the plain Olmec syllabic style ( Fig. 1), mentions
the fact that Pè tomb was to act as a talisman or protective shrine for the
faithful.
The six celts found in La Venta offering no.4, were arranged in a semi-
circle. Four of the celts were engraved. The first and last celts in the semi-
circle were not engraved.
Moving from left to right two engraved jade celts when joined together
depict an Olmec priest wearing an elaborate headdress and holding what
appears to be a torch or baton in his hand. This figure probably represented
Pè. It is analogous to the figure engraved on a jade Breastplate (no. 13:583),
now located in the National Museum of Anthropology at Mexico City
( Wuthenau, 1980).
The first two celts probably were originally joined together and served as
a symbol of authority for the deceased priest while he was alive. The
breakage of this celt into two parts probably symbolized the withdrawal of
the priest's physical body, from the physical plane to the spiritual plane. The
placement in the tomb
of Pè's "celt of power" was meant to hold his spiritual power at the grave
site.
The third engraved celt at La Venta offering no.4, was engraved in the
cursive Olmec script (Fig. 2). In the text of the cursive script we find Pè's
obituary.
La Venta CeltsLa Venta Celts
Transliteration of Symbols on Figure 1
Fè fè mi pè po gbè
without breath void consumed Pè pure/holy below (in)
lu bè ma
the family habitation lay low the celebrity (the) Lord (in)
yu ka-pè ba ko
the big hemisphere tomb Ka-Pè the Great (in) the back of
se yu we
(to) possess for posterity the big hemisphere tomb Hence
ta lu ba i
this place the family habitation great/strong thine
gba kyè be po
fixed in the ground inheritance/estate here pure/holy
mbe be
lay low the celebrity lay low the celebrity.
Translation
" Without breath. Void. Consumed (lies) the Hole Pè, below the family
habitation. Lay low the celebrity, the Lord, in the hemisphere tomb. The
Great Ka-Pè, in the back of the big hemisphere tomb, possesses (this place)
for posterity. Thine inheritance (is) fixed in this ground. Here the pure
celebrity lays low. Lay low the celebrity".
Vocabulary
fè, v. to be void, empty, without breath
mi, v. consumed
Pè, proper name; v. spacious, pin down
po, adj. : superlative of white translated as holy, pure, the good
gbè, v. lay low, below; virtue
lu, family habitation
bè, v: lay low the celebrity
ma, it can be translated as "Great one" or "Lord"; it
can also be a suffix joined to a substantive or a verb
to show intensity.
yu, the big hemisphere tomb
Ka, a title given to Olmec elites
ba, adj.: great
ka, adv.: in the back of
se, possess (this place) for posterity
we, adv.: hence
ta, this place, place, here
lu, n.: the family habitation
ba, adj.: great
i, pronominal particle of the second person: thine, thou, you
gba, transitive v.: fixed in the ground
kyè, inheritance, estate
be, here
It is interesting to note that on this celt, after the use of the Olmec
term po, a /g/ or /m/ is prefixed to bè, to make this word into a CCV
term. Another interesting fact about this inscription is that
reduplication is used at the end, and beginning of this inscription to
denote emphasis.
The fourth engraved celt from left to right in La Venta offering no.4,
is written in the plain Olmec script (Fig. 1). This inscription declares
that the tomb of Pè is a talisman of great power.
Transliteration of Figure 1
Kyè gyo dè gbè
A man the leader of the cult indeed virtue
le gyo we mbè to
to be consecration hence here place of rest
he gyo
good talisman.
Translation
"The man (was) the leader of the cult. Indeed (a man of) virtue to be
an object of consecration. Hence here a place of rest (a) good talisman
(protective shrine for the faithful)".
Vocabulary
kyè, Man
gyo, one faithful to the cult/deity, object of consecration,
leader of the cult association; talisman, amulet
dè, suffix of determination or definite article; indeed
gbè, virtue, righteousness, etc.
le, verbal postposition: to be
we, adv.: therefore, hence
mbè, here
to, place of rest
he, adj.: good
Navarrete (1974) , has published two interesting engraved pieces.
They are scepters, the Black Stone Serpent Scepter (Fig.3) and, an
incised jadeite celt from El Sitio (Fig. 4).
The Black stone scepter from Cardenas, Tobasco ( Fig. 3) has only
two characters to/tu and bè. These characters indicate that this was
indeed a scepter and symbolized the sovereign's high office and
power. The signs tu bè can be interpreted as "Royalty rest here" or
"Scrupulous observer of the Law".
Chapter 12: Hieroglyphic Olmec Writing
There are two forms of Olmec hieroglyphic writing : the pure hieroglyphics ( or picture
signs); and the phonetic hieroglyphics. The phonetic hieroglyphics are a combination of
syllabic and logographic signs. Below is an Olmec sign from the Tuxtla statuette:
pe extensive,pit hole in ground
gyo(> jo) effective talisman, wonder
making power
a this, it
kye man
ba great
Translation " Extensive (and) effective wonder making power. This man is great".
To read hieroglyphic Olmec you have to break down the symbols into their phonetic
elements. This means that the hieroglyphs are made up of Olmec phonetic signs.
Figure 12: 1 Inscriptions from the Tuxtla Statuette
Above you can see how the Olmec signs when broken down into their constituent parts
represent Olmec syllabic symbols.
Most of the hieroglyphic Olmec signs are found on the Tuxtla statuette and the
Mojarra Stela. Below are some of the most frequent hieroglyphic signs from these
monuments.
Su Po ku i-nu , “Offer pure cleansing libations in thou habitation”.
Po ka , “Your pure family mansion ”.
a ta. ni ngba i, “It is here. This it the home of your soul”.
Pe to ta, “The abode of refuge (it) is thrust in the ground here”.
Pè gyo . A kyè ba, “He was (indeed) an important personage (with)
considerable and effective wonder making powers.
Po tu fa gyo, “This Holy Ruler possesses the spirit of the divinity”.
Fa po, “(He) is in possession of much purity”.
Po tu, “The pure habitation” or “(He) is the same as purity” or Po tu yo, “ The
pure refuge of the soul”..
Yu po gbe bi, “Henceforth, the big hemisphere tomb is pure righteousness”
or “The soul is sanctified and henceforth holy”.
Po bolo ni, “The pure vestibule of Propriety”.
So gap o tu ni, “Give libations at this pure hearth, a refuge of propriety”.
Po bè kpa lu. Tu ta yo, “ Lay low the celebrity with approval. This is a place
of refuge for the soul”.
I kyu, “Thou suddenness”.
Ni lu nga ta, “Much propriety glows here”.
Na Tutu, “To touch from a distance Tutu”.
Ku a ti ku to, “He is at the commencement of (re)birth”.
Tu to ta se, “The large hemisphere tomb is a place of rest to be realized
here”.
I la gyo, “Thou (art) firmly situated with the divinity”.
Te te “The very honest”.
Po Tutu, “The Holy Tutu”.
Yu i ta, “The big hemisphere tomb is thine”.
Tutu, name of personage referred to on the Tuxtla statuette.
“The abode of pure refuge”.
Po gbe, “Pure Righteousness”.
Da bu po i ki, “ At this moment (you are) in a state of retreat—puirty—
thou (art) an envoy on a mission”.
Bi ki gyo. A mbo. Da bè mbo gyo ni, “The great ancestor (he) works like a
talisman. Indeed (he is) like a raising star. At this moment (he) exist in parity to a
talisman”.
Yu yu. Po mi ta. Yu yu, “Offer pure libations (at) this large
hemisphere tomb”.
Tu ni. Tu ni, “Cause (here) the conferring of all his virtue to this
very good abode”.
Yo pe, “His vital spirit”.
Fe ki po mbo Po so, “The proximity to the pure law is coming out of
this pure abode”.
Ta ku. Tyu a ki bu, “This place is tops”, or “This tomb, it gives
messages/law/order”.
Tu po gbe ni, “This place of rest is pure righteousness”.
, su, “offer up libations….”
Po mi ta, “This pure place of imbibition”.
Po tu ni , “Place of pure propriety”.
Po nub a-na a pè mbo na bè kye ba nu ni , “His pure soul brings strength.
He has assumed the equivalence (to be s divinity). The summit of purity has refuge here.
(Here) very much propriety”.
A po mbo kyu Yu yu, “This tomb is as pure as the celebrity inside the
tomb”.
Po bè ta, “Exist in a pure unique state”, 1) “Lay low the pure
celebrity alone”, 2) “Lay low the pure celebrity to sleep”, 3) “Lay low the pure celebrity
in a good situation”.
“To realize no vice (at) this habitation”.
A ku po bu mbo gyu, “He is a Governor of gigantic purity, the source
of spiritual tranquility” or “He is a pure stem. [He] give(s) a blow to crush evil”.
A Ku ni. Pe gyo po ni, “A vast talisman to confer the fruit of
conception”, 2) “He is the summit of the manifestation of life”, 3) A vast talisman is [his]
Ni, he is the summit of the pure Ni.
Bè ta mè,“Exist in a unique state of spiritual tranquility”.
Ki ku lu , “[He will] touch from a distance the Order, to hold it upright”.
Tu ni nit u, “Cause (here) the conferring of all his virtue to this very
abode”.
Be fo i, “ Thou gives salutations (here) [to the celebrity laid low]”.
The phonetic hieroglyphic Olmec signs do not stand for one word, these signs are
Olmec compound symbols organized to make a picture. There are two types of Olmec
compound-signs: subordinate and synthetic.
In the subordinate compound signs we see the combining of two or more Olmec base
signs or roots representing a noun and a verb. Examples of this compound type are found
in the El Sitio celt and the Tuxtla statuette. Below we find examples of the subordinate
Olmec compound signs:
Pè to ta
"The abode of refuge (it) is thrust in the ground".
Pè gyo. A kyè ba
"Extensive (and) effective wonder working
power. This man (is) great".
A ku po bu mbo gyu
"It is a pure stem; give a blow to
crush evil".
Figure 12:2 El Sitio Celt
The characters written on the incised jadeite celt from El Sitio , Mexico was
written in the hieroglyphic script (Fig. 12:2). This hieroglyphic writing represents
compound syllabic Olmec characters in an ornate style, which probably evolved into the
Mayan and Izapan hieroglyphic scripts. This ornate style of writing usually has two or
more syllabic signs joined together as illustrated in Figure 12:2.
Transliteration of El Sitio Inscriptions
Po ta tu bè ta
Purity here take refuge Bè sacred object/solitary
tu to ta tu i
Ruler sequestered here place of rest thou/you
fè bè gbè po
in the company unite the pure purity
po gba ta pè ta
purity plant propriety to spread over this place
se ta a ta
to possess for posterity sacred object he this place
ma tu
ancestor/lord rest.
Translation
"Purity, take refuge here. Bè is here. The Ruler is sequestered (he who was righteous).
Here is (his) place of rest. You are in the company (of the Deity). Unite with the purest of
the Pure. Plant purity and propriety to spread over this place (and) to possess for
posterity. He (is ) a sacred object. This place the Lord rest".
Vocabulary
po, purity
ta, here, this place; place of rest, rest; Partisan, supporter;
propriety; to be sacred, sacred object, mystic order;
tu, Ruler, King; take refuge
bè, name; to be, exist; unite
to, sequestered
i, pronominal article, 2nd person, you, thou, thine
fè, in the company
gbè, pure, virtuous, righteous
po, purity, pure, the good
gba, to plant
pè, spacious, pin down; spread over
se, v. to lead; to be in possession for posterity
a, pronominal article, 3rd person, he, she, it
ma, Lord, ancestor
The synthetic Olmec compound signs represent a compound expression. These signs
reflect a complete sentence. In the synthetic compound we have VO type sentence as
opposed to the SOV type sentence associated with Olmec subordinate compound signs.
Below are several examples:
Bè ta mè
"Exist in a unique state of comprehension". Or
Bè ta gyu
"Exist in a unique state of spiritual
tranquility".
ki ku lu
" Send away the personal character". or
"Send away the personality to the family
habitation".
Po be ta
Purity exist here. or
Be ta
(1) Lay low the celebrity alone
(2) " " " " in a good situation
(3) “”””””””” " " " " to sleep
(4) " " " " a sacred object
Olmec hieroglyphic signs also appear on the jaguar stucco pyramids and inside the
Preclassic tombs discovered under them. The Olmec hieroglyphic signs are seen in the
panels of the first temple of Cerros, Structure 5C (Schele & Freidel, 1990).
There are two panels at the Cerros pyramid the Eveningstar panel and the Morningstar
panel. On the top of the head of the Evening-star jaguar and the morning star jaguar
stucco mask at cerros we have the Olmec sign of lineage bi. In Olmec bi,
means 'today, present, moment, lineage'. But the symbols on either side of the
Eveningstar and morning star panel are different.
Some of the earliest Mayan pyramids, like the ones at Cerros and Tikal are built over
earlier pyramids which may have been built by the Olmec. One of the most interesting
artifacts from the Tikal pyramid is the greenstone pectoral.
Figure 12:3 Greenstone Pectoral mask
The headband glyph found greenstone pectoral from Tikal, and in
the Tuxtla statuette inscription is very interesting. The headband glyph includes three
Olmec signs Bi , Ta , Po . As a result from right to left we
read the following signs on the headband of this dignitary from Tikal: Po Bi ta. Po ta ,
or "Pure lineage and Propriety. Pure Propriety".
The decipherment of the Olmec writing indicates that the common people visited the
Cerros pyramid and other burial sites to offer libations, and obtain blessings from the
personages buried therein. To denote the divine status of many temples the Preclassic
Maya-Olmec folk left inscriptions with the Su ba Su glyph. in the following
figure, we have five examples of the Su ba Su or Tu Su ba Su sign from 1) Tuxtla
statuette, 2) Cerros, 3) Rio Azul and 4) Tikal.
The translation of these signs are below:
1. Su su, "Offer up Many libations".
2. Su ba Su, "Offer libations to this unique Ba.(Headdress glyph:
Ga po bi ta po ga, "The habitation is pure, the great ancestor/or
lineage has propriety, (indeed) a pure habitation" (after this sign we see the Su
ba su sign repeated.)
3. Pe Se su ba su, "Pe to realize in this house the offering of
libations (for) his Ba, offer libations"
4. Se tu ni Se, "To realize this very good abode--merit
be fo li, Lay low (the celebrity) cause (him to) rest
(herein) indeed.
Su ba su, Give libations (for) the Ba, offer the libations.
5. Yo kele nde. Pa fe yo. Su ba kele su. The vital spirit is unique indeed.
Very much admiration the desire of this spirit. Give libations (for) this
unique Ba! Give libations.
Other Olmec signs at Cerros include:
Tu fa ta su sign.
This sign is made up of
tu
fa
ta
su
It means in Olmec"This abode possessed by the Partisan (of the Mystic order) offer
libations". This sign is related to other Olmec symbolism from sites in Mayaland
including Kaminaljuyu and Izapa. The signs from these sites is formed by three signs.
The sign is formed by the following signs:
tu
fa
be
It means "This abode the possession of a celebrity laid low (here).
An understanding of the Olmec writing allows us to read the obituary in chamber
burial 48 of Tikal, Structure 5D-33-2nd; and the Rio Azul inscription. An examination of
these inscriptions will show that the glyphs on lines 1,2,3, and 8(a) agree with similar
signs on the Tikal inscriptions.
Rio Azul Inscriptions
Figure 12:3 Rio Azul Inscriptions
Figure 12:4 Breakdown of Rio Azul Inscriptions into their
syllabic parts.
Figure 12:5 Bilingual Mayan Olmec Inscription
In the Figure 12:5 , we illustrate how you can read Mayan inscriptions using the
phonetic approach, based on interpreting the sound value based on the Olmec-Manding
sign, but read in the Yucatec language.
Figure 12:6 Ahau sign from Copan and Calmalcalco
The sign ah po or ahau, is a good example of the use of Olmec symbols to write
Mayan words. this sign which Schele and Freidel interpret as: is made up of three Olmec
signs Tu tu and po. In Olmec these signs mean Tu tu "the ruler that rules" and Po 'pure',
i.e., 'Pure ruler that rules'.
In conclusion, the Olmec people had both a syllabic and hieroglyphic script. The
terms in this writing are monosyllabic and each term may have multiple meanings. The
Olmec terms have been interpreted using the Manding lexical items recorded by
Delafosse, in La Langue Mandigue et ses dialectes.
The Olmec inscriptions on portable items such as incised celts and scepters were
sacred relics, containing the obituaries of great rulers, talismanic messages, or symbols of
authority. These inscriptions indicate that the Olmec or Xi people were very religious and
that the tombs and graves of Xi dignitaries served both as a talisman, and shrine for the
common people.
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