From Wikipedia

Mysteries Of The Maya

The Maya script, also known as Maya glyphs or Maya hieroglyphs, was the writing system of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has been substantially deciphered. The earliest inscriptions found which are identifiably Maya date to the 3rd century BCE in San Bartolo, Guatemala, and writing was in continuous use until shortly after the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century CE (and even later in isolated areas such as Tayasal). Maya writing used logograms complemented by a set of syllabic glyphs, somewhat similar in function to modern Japanese writing. Maya writing was called "hieroglyphics" or "hieroglyphs" by early European explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries who did not understand it but found its general appearance reminiscent of Egyptian hieroglyphs, to which however the Maya writing system is not at all related.

Maya glyphs in stucco at the Museo de sitio in Palenque, Mexico