Star war

Not to be confused with Star Wars.
Glyph from Naranjo Hieroglyphic Stairway (AD 631)
Glyph from Tortuguero Monument 6 (AD 669)
Examples of 'star war' glyphs

A star war was a decisive conflict between rival polities of the Maya civilization during the first millennium AD. The term comes from a specific type of glyph used in the Maya script, which depicts a star showering the earth with liquid droplets, or a star over a shell. It represents a verb but its phonemic value and specific meaning have not yet been deciphered. The name "star war" was coined by the epigrapher Linda Schele to refer to the glyph, and by extension to the type of conflict that it indicates.[1]

  1. ^ Witschey, Walter Robert Thurmond; Brown, Clifford T. (2012). Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica. Scarecrow Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-8108-7167-0.