Name of ancient Maya astronomer-mathematician deciphered for the first time

The name is written at the end of a unique mathematical formula on the wall of a building at Xultun, an ancient city 340km south-west of Guatemala City. This discovery not only provides insight into the individuals behind Maya astronomy and mathematics but also the production of ancient codices.

“We were excited when we realised one of the room’s many mathematical texts actually had an attribution,” says Franco Rossi, an archaeologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and lead author of the research paper, published in the journal Antiquity. “It is frankly surprising that more such signatures haven’t turned up in the archaeological record, since this kind of specialised work was both important and widespread within ancestral Maya society, particularly during the eighth century.”