CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS—According to a Science Magazine report, the signature of a Maya mathematician and astronomer who lived in the eighth century A.D. has been identified at the San Bartolo-Xultun archaeological site, which is located in Guatemala near its border with Mexico. The name, Sak Tahn Waax, is translated as "White-chested Fox." The signature was found in inscriptions including more than 50 mathematical calculations and astronomical texts on the wall of a room. Artifacts uncovered in the room suggest that it had been used as a math classroom and a codex workshop, where books were made of folded bark paper. Researchers found the astronomer’s name while examining drawings, photographs, and digitally enhanced scans of the inscriptions. They were also able to determine that the formulas were used to sync the Maya calendar with the cycles of Mars and Venus. “It’s really elegant, complex math,” said Heather Hurst of Skidmore College. “That’s why he’s signing it,” she explained. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. To read about archaeologists' efforts to reassemble mural fragments from San Bartolo, go to "Piecing Together Maya Creation Stories."
