this is a most exciting time in the formation of Maya identity. It is the beginning of writing and evidences influences from La Moharra, Izapa, and Tuxla as the writing systems of earlier cultures became the basis of Maya writing. The new murals that were unearthed in San Bartolo in Guatemala also show a complex iconographic system that includes maize god iconography not thought to have existed until the Classic period. Olmec influence is apparent in sites as far south as Takalik Ab'ah in Guatemala. Kaminal Juyu was also at an apogee as was El Mirador, one of the biggest and most enigmatic of all Maya sites.