Stela 46 at El Palmar Yields Earliest Maya Long Count Date

At the archaeological site of El Palmar in Campeche, Mexico, researchers have uncovered a carved monument that holds the earliest Long Count date identified in the Maya Lowlands. Known as Stela 46, this artifact, found within an architectural complex located southwest of the Main Group, is dated to 8.7.1.0.0, which corresponds to A.D. 180. This date predates the previous earliest known date from Stela 29 at Tikal, Guatemala, by 112 years (A.D. 292). The significant finding is the culmination of twenty years of work by the El Palmar Archaeological Project, led by Kenichiro Tsukamoto from the University of California, Riverside, and Javier López Camacho from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History. Advanced techniques like modern photogrammetry and high-resolution 3D scanning were employed to document the monument.