Sure, nothing in the form of portable Olmec writing is believed to have survived--until maybe now. Considering the tablet is a brand-new discovery, all of this is speculation at best. Now that archeologists are inspired to concentrate more intensely on Olmec research, who knows what else will be found out?

You'll be sayin that in pirate or your bones'l rest in Davy's locker!

Didn't all the civilizations, that developed a written language, start off with a form of written accounting? You know, much like Elspodes shopping list, to record information the King/Ruler might ask for or tax.

Yeah, maybe it's a tax bill.:lol:

Guess what? Photos of this artifact HAVE been heavily PhotoShopped. The incisings would be practically invisible otherwise. In reading other documents online, I found this photo of the stone as it really appears. I also found out that it actually turned up in 1999 in a quarry and did NOT get excavated in situ. That fact alone would make most archaeologists very suspicious. BTW, previous to this, whatever "this" is, nobody has been able to verify any Olmec "writing" other than calendar dates. One author claimed that the Olmec were making paper out of tree bark before the birth of Christ, but he gives no evidence for why he believes this and it is certain that none of this "paper" survived in the climate. Mesoamerican civilizations did not pass down artifacts from prior civilizations, they thoroughly destroyed everything instead and often took all the credit for previous accomplishments by revising their own histories.

http://archaeology.about.com/od/olme...ajal-block.htm

Sorry that the photo is too large for me to upload it here.

;)