LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Previously, experts cited only one surviving reference to the date in Mayan glyphs, found on a stone tablet from the Tortuguero site in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History says that there is another apparent reference to the date at the nearby Comalcalco ruin, inscribed on the carved or molded face of a brick. Comalcalco is unique among Mayan temples, as it is constructed of bricks.

Arturo Mendez, a spokesman for the institute says that the item is not on display and is being kept in storage at the institute. The fragment of the inscription had been discovered years ago and has been subject to thorough study.

The "Comalcalco Brick," as it has become to be known, has been discussed by experts and in some online forums. Many still doubt that it is a definite reference to Dec. 21, 2012 or Dec. 23, 2012, the dates cited by proponents of the theory as the possible end of the world.

"Some have proposed it as another reference to 2012, but I remain rather unconvinced," David Stuart, a specialist in Mayan epigraphy at the University of Texas at Austin, said.

Stuart said the date inscribed on the brick "'is a Calendar Round,' a combination of a day and month position that will repeat every 52 years."

The date on the brick could also correspond to similar dates in the past, Stuart said. "There's no reason it couldn't be also a date in ancient times, describing some important historical event in the Classic period. In fact, the third glyph on the brick seems to read as the verb huli, "he/she/it arrives.

"There's no future tense marking (unlike the Tortuguero phrase), which in my mind points more to the Comalcalco date being more historical that prophetic," Stuart wrote.

Both inscriptions were probably carved about 1,300 years ago and both are cryptic in some ways. The Tortuguero inscription describes an event in 2012 involving Bolon Yokte, a mysterious Mayan god associated with both war and creation.

The Institute of Anthropology and History has long said rumors of a world-ending or world-changing event in late December 2012 are a Westernized misinterpretation of Mayan calendars.

For the record, there is no cogent evidence that Mayan civilization ever predicted the end of the world.

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