When, in the 1960s, the hieroglyphs—the most sophisticated writing system created in the New World—were at last beginning to be deciphered, a new picture of these people emerged. Mayan art and ...

The quest to decipher Maya hieroglyphs began with the very Spanish ... built a center where anyone could go to study the city's art and inscriptions. In December 1973, 30 people came to the ...