Archaeologists have discovered carvings in a stone staircase at the La Corona dig site in Guatemala which confirm the ‘end date’ of the Maya calendar, December 21, 2012.

It is only the second recognized inscription which confirms this ‘end date’.

New Age sects about the world have interpreted this as a possible doomsday event – with sales of blast shelters rising in the U.S. and believers taking refuge in a village in France.

The Mayan tablets are the topic of wild world wide web conspiracy theories, with predictions our world will be swallowed by a black hole, hit by an asteroid or devoured by ancient gods.

The 1,300-year-old inscription is described as one of the most significant hieroglyphic finds in decades.

Most of the inscription, carved into a stone abandoned by looters, deals with political history – but there is a reference to ‘the end’ in a passage about a king’s return.

‘This was a time of excellent political turmoil in the Maya region and this king felt compelled to allude to a larger cycle of time that takes place to end in 2012,’ says David Stuart of the University of Texas at Austin, who led a dig at the site.

But many ethnic Mayans dismiss the apocalyptic predictions as largely a Western notion.

Rather than the end of time itself, the inscriptions refer to the start off of a new era.

The ‘apocalypse’ refers to the end of a cycle of 5,125 years since the beginning of the Mayan Extended Count calendar in 3113 B.C.

‘The story started out with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth,’ says Nasa, ‘These fables had been linked to the finish of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012.’

Sources and more information:

• Mayan Calendar Discovery Confirms 2012 ‘End Date’

An ancient Maya text has emerged from the jungles of Guatemala confirming the so-called “end date” of the Maya calendar, Dec. 21, 2012. Considered one of the most significant hieroglyphic finds in decades, the 1,300-year-old inscription contains only the second known reference to the “end date,” but does not predict doomsday.

• Archaeological discoveries in Guatemala

Most Popular News Archaeologists in Guatemala on Thursday (June 28) announce they discovered the second-known reference to the ‘end date’ of the Mayan calendar at newly-uncovered 1,300 year-old panels at the La Corona archaeological site, one of the most significant hieroglyphic discoveries in decades.

• Mayan Artifacts Discovered

• Ancient Text Confirms Mayan Calendar End Date

• Scientists Explain ‘End Date’ Seen In Ancient Mayan Text

• Second inscription confirming ‘end date’ of Mayan calendar in 2012 is found in Guatemala