Mayan Mathematical Discovery of 700 AD: Sak Tahn Waak, the 'White-Breasted Fox'

Archaeologists in Guatemala have announced that they have identified a Mayan mathematician and astronomer who lived in 700 AD, who studied planets and numbers to create a formula for calculating time. The scholar was identified as Sak Tahn Waak, or "White-Breasted Fox", thanks to glyphs discovered at the archaeological site of San Bartolo Xultún.

Boris Beltrán, coordinator of the project, explained at the press conference that it is "the first time in the world that the name of a Mayan mathematician is known compared to other thinkers". According to the epigraphist Franco Rossi, the scholar dedicated 2,920 days to the observation of Venus and Mars to develop his formula.

In 2010, a mural was found with 50 inscriptions, including 9 glyphs depicting time calculations and signed with the words "so says the White-Breasted Fox". Guatemalan Culture Minister Luis Méndez Salina called the announcement "extraordinary and historic." The signature placed on the research establishes a departure from traditional Mayan orality to affirm, according to archaeologists, that "the written is what is law", a conclusion that the researchers reached after 16 years of studies on the identity of the astronomer.