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Has Isthmian (Epi-Olmec) writing been deciphered?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·3 answers·0·0 following
Most likely: the decipherment is unproven or wrong; the corpus is too small to confirm itAhead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

Where it stands

Three answers have been proposed. The decipherment is unproven or wrong; the corpus is too small to confirm it. leads, with evidence 2 for: supported by its tests. Two are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.

Why it matters

Isthmian is the nearest later script to the Cascajal block in space and possibly in descent. If it is read, it gives a language (Zoquean) and sign values to test on the Olmec text; if not, the region has no readable script before the Classic⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 3

Evidence: 2 for
Most likely
Evidence: 1 for
Disputed
None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible

History

  1. Justeson & Kaufman puts forward: justeson and Kaufman's 1993 decipherment is broadly correct; Isthmian writes an early Zoquean language.
  2. Justeson & Kaufman: a column noticed in 1995, after the decipherment, read readily with the 1993 values.For: Justeson and Kaufman's 1993 decipherment is broadly correct; Isthmian writes an early Zoquean language.
  3. Houston & Coe puts forward: the decipherment is unproven or wrong; the corpus is too small to confirm it.
  4. Houston & Coe: applied to the 101-glyph Teotihuacan-style mask, the values gave no reading.For: The decipherment is unproven or wrong; the corpus is too small to confirm it.
  5. Asked on this site
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