Earliest New World writing discovered [audio 4min]

A heap of debris taken from a quarry in Veracruz, Mexico has yielded a stone block inscribed with what appears to be the oldest writing ever found in the Americas. Numerous symbols are carved across the block in rows. Experts say the block dates back almost 3,000 years, and was created by people from the Olmec civilization. The Olmec were an early central American people who rose to prominence before the heyday of the Maya. It is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery, says Stephen Houston, an archeologist at Brown University.
The inscriptions are hieroglyphics -- 62 small drawings in rows, with some of the signs repeated up to four times. Report by Christopher Joyce includes website images.