So, while 32 BC seemed awfully early for the Olmecs to carve this stone, there’s no way they could have done it later. (Or earlier, for that matter.)
But I am not sure if this resolves the burning question: what makes everyone believe that the inscription corresponded to the current date? Certainly, that is a common custom when erecting a monument, but what if Olmec logic said "let us commemorate this auspicious event that occurred 300 years ago!" or "Let us anticipate the far future in 5,000 years from now!" for example.Using Stellarium, set the location to Tres Zapotes, but not knowing how far off the calendar's reckoning would be, the closest I have come is a partial solar eclipse, after 9pm on September 1, -23.
Stellarium literally indicates a "Year 0" so BC years could be off-by-one, or off-by-Julian-and-equinox-precession, I just have no idea.
Wikipedia doesn't list any [Lunar/Solar] that are anywhere near 32 BC.
Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45922610
https://peuplesautochtones.wordpress.com/2022/05/21/sites-ar...
“Il a été proposé qu’elle puisse commémorer une éclipse lunaire qui a précédé une éclipse solaire de deux semaines.” >”It was proposed that it could commemorate a lunar eclipse preceding a solar eclipse by two weeks”
I was very lazy in my search, so I didn’t check anything about this page.
Supernovae could also play a factor. Or using tree rings to identify years mentioned as having droughts or floods.
Probably a bunch of other things we haven’t thought of.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_Long_Count_calend...