Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, the Yellow River and the Nile - these have all long been accepted as "Cradles of Civilization." When Europeans arrived in what is now Mexico and Central America 500 years ago, they were reluctant to believe that anything comparable could have arisen among the native peoples they encountered. Since then, however, it has become increasingly apparent that the many groups comprising the Americas First People not only reached a highly sophisticated level of civilization, but did so independently of any outside influence - and did so far earlier than we imagined.

A slab recently discovered in the Veracruz region of Mexico contains what appears to be a hybrid form of writing that looks like hieroglyphs, but seem to have alphabetic traits as well. This slab dates from around 1,000 BCE, which was the height of the Olmec Civilization that predated the Mayans. This was roughly contemporaneous with Egypt's 21st dynasty, the reign of Israelite King David, the Greek "Dark Ages" (Dorian Invasions), and the Zhou Period in China.

The slab, known as the the "Cascajal Slab," was rescued from a quarry several years ago, where it had been destined for use as road material. It represents the first solid proof of a written language in the "New" World, according to Stephen Houston of Brown University in Rhode Island. "We're talking about something that happens once in a human lifetime," he said.