Astronomer’s name deciphered from ancient Mayan ruins for first time

Archaeologists have transcribed mural symbols from Mayan ruins to learn the name of an astronomer and mathematician from the ancient civilization for the first time, Guatemala’s Ministry of Culture said Monday.

The name “White-chested Fox” was found in drawings dating from 400 BC to 900 AD at the San Bartolo-Xultun archaeological site on the Mexican border.

Culture minister Luis Mendez told reporters researchers at Xultun unearthed a “complete mathematical and astronomical formula” authored by Sak Tahn Waax, which translates to White-chested Fox.

Mendez said it’s the only work of its kind attributed to a mathematician from the Maya Classic period, considered the peak of the Mesoamerican civilization.

The discovery was “made possible by the epigraphic analysis of more than 50 mathematical and astronomical microtexts written on the wall,” the ministry said in a statement.

In addition to determining the astronomer’s name, researchers identified calculations and tables that employ astronomical and calendrical units of time.

Researchers used drawings, photographs and scans of the inscriptions, which were later digitally enhanced, revealing 11 hieroglyphs that could finally be deciphered, the ministry said.

The glyphs appeared in “a context where art was intertwined with science, mathematics, astronomy and everyday life,” Mendez said.

The Maya civilization went into decline around 900 AD, until its collapse with the arrival of Spanish conquistadors at the turn of the 16th century.

Last year, the culture ministry announced archaeologists unearthed the remains of a Mayan city nearly 3,000 years old in northern Guatemala, with pyramids and monuments.

In 2024, an American doctoral student discovered a sprawling Maya city within a dense jungle in Mexico. Scientists and archaeologists have discovered ancient Mayan ruins by shooting lasers down from a plane to penetrate the dense jungle.