Sir John Eric Sidney Thompson was a leading English Mesoamerican archaeologist, ethnohistorian, and epigrapher. While working in the United States, he dominated Maya studies and particularly the study of the Maya script until well into the 1960s.
Sir J. Eric S. Thompson
Thompson's grave at Ashdon, Essex.
Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs, is historically the native writing system of the Maya civilization of Mesoamerica and is the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which are identifiably Maya date to the 3rd century BCE in San Bartolo, Guatemala. Maya writing was in continuous use throughout Mesoamerica until the Spanish conquest of the Maya in the 16th and 17th centuries. Though modern Mayan languages are almost entirely written using the Latin alphabet rather than Maya script, there have been recent developments encouraging a revival of the Maya glyph system.
Maya glyphs were often carved into stone and had minor depth when done so and these glyphs had high complexity
Yucatec Maya writing in the Dresden Codex, c. 11–12th century, Chichen Itza
An inscription in Maya glyphs from the site of Naranjo, relating to the reign of king Itzamnaaj Kʼawil, 784–810
Diego de Landa's Maya alphabet was an early attempt at decipherment.
