The Maya are usually given credit among Meso-American groups for
inventing the number zero. However, the Mexican anthropologist Ignacio
Bernal attributes the origin of zero to the Olmecs, prior to the Maya.
The Olmec civilization flowered between 1200 BC and 500 BC. Reference:
A Compact History of Mexico, El Colegio de Mexico, 1973 (English edition
1974).
Richard Griego
University of New Mexico