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Maya Script
How the Maya script was deciphered by a Soviet linguist who'd never set foot in Mexico
The Maya were the only civilisation in the Americas to have a complete script. They used it to record their rituals, calendars, mathematics, and stories, on stone, pottery, and bark.
With over 800 characters, it baffled Western academics for over a century.
Then it was deciphered by a Soviet linguist, Yuri Knorozov. He'd never set foot in Mexico, but the right tools for decipherment had fallen into his hands in an extraordinary way...
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ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ World Service Archive
This programme was restored as part of the World Service archive project