Cascajal Block

The Cascajal Block is a serpentine tablet discovered in the late 1990s by road builders at Lomas de Tacamichapa, Veracruz, Mexico, in the ancient Olmec heartland. Weighing 11.5 kg and measuring 36x21x13 cm, it bears 62 incised glyphs resembling plants, insects, fish, and abstract forms arranged in horizontal rows. Dated to circa 900 BC during the Olmec San Lorenzo phase, it may represent the oldest known writing system in the Americas, predating Zapotec writing by roughly 400 years. The discovery was published in Science in September 2006, though scholarly debate persists due to the informal excavation context and the absence of other examples of this unique script.