Indigenous languages of the Americas languages are among those used today. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name, and Mexico recognizes eight more. The Mayan language family is one of the best documented and most studied in the Americas. Modern Mayan languages descend from Proto-Mayan, a language thought to have been spoken at least 4,000 years ago; it has been partially reconstructed using the comparative method. Although both North and Central America are very diverse areas, South America has a linguistic diversity rivalled by
The Olmec-Maya and Now else in his art was "ancillary" to "the burning urge" to express these parallels. "The Olmec-Maya and Now" was first exhibited at the Commonwealth Institute in London in June 1985. In 1989, the artist Denis Bowen remembered it as "a major exhibition with a significant body of work of the highest calibre" which "assure[d] [Williams'] place in the British art scene". The exhibition was opened by Terry Waite. One of the paintings in the series, "Olmec Maya—Now and Coming Time", was presented to the Tate by the Aubrey Williams Estate in 1993. The Olmec-Maya and Now "The Olmec-Maya and Now"