Maya Codex of Mexico

Radiocarbon dating of its bark paper places the manuscript between roughly the 11th and 12th centuries CE, making it the oldest surviving book from the Americas. The dating was a key factor in a major authentication study published in 2016.

Yes, the artifact was long known as the Grolier Codex before being officially renamed the Maya Codex of Mexico by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). The name change reflected both its Maya origin and its status as a Mexican national treasure.

The codex is primarily a Venus almanac, tracking the synodic cycle of the planet Venus through calendar calculations and associated deity imagery. Each page contains tables correlating Venus appearances with specific ritual or ominous events in the Maya calendar.

Ten fragmentary pages survive out of what was likely a longer manuscript of around twenty pages. The surviving fragments were recovered from a cave in Chiapas and preserved as bark-paper panels with painted figures and glyphs.