William Andrew "Bill" Saturno (born Albany, New York) is an American archaeologist and Mayanist scholar who has made significant contributions toward the study of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization.
[3][4][2] Saturno is best known for his discovery in 2001 of one of the oldest extant murals in the Maya region, at the site of San Bartolo in northeastern Guatemala.
The Mayan hieroglyphics at the site included representations of dates roughly 7,000 years in the future, casting doubt on the speculation that the conclusion of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar would result in a 2012 doomsday scenario.
[6] Saturno (as of 2022) works as an independent scholar, continuing to publish research with members of the San Bartolo-Xultun Regional Archaeological Project (PRASBX).
[10] Saturno currently lives with his wife and their three sons James, David, and Giancarlo, in Clinton, Connecticut, and enjoys soccer, opera, and snowboarding in his free time.
[citation needed] Since 2013, he has directed field work in Northern Peru, using remote sensing techniques like Landsat and ASTER to find archaeological features in the area and commercial sugar cane plantation environments.
[citation needed] Saturno's most recent publication is "An early Maya calendar record from San Bartolo, Guatemala" (2022).