As mentioned on page153, when the month glyph in Initial-series terminal dates isnotto be found in its usual position, it will be found in the regular position for the month glyphs in all other kinds of dates in the inscriptions, namely, immediately following the day glyph to which it belongs. In the present text we found that the day,10 Ahau, was recorded in B4a; hence, since the month glyph was not recorded in its regular position, it must be in B4b, immediately following the day glyph. By comparing the glyph in B4b with the month signs in figure19, it will be found exactly like the month sign forZac(s-t), and we may therefore conclude that this is our month glyph and that it isZac. The coefficient of B4b is quite clearly 8 and the month part therefore reads,8 Zac. Combining this with the day recorded in B4a, we have the date10 Ahau 8 Zac, which corresponds with the terminal date determined by calculation. The whole text therefore reads 9.18.10.0.0 10Ahau 8 Zac.
Fig. 67Fig.67. Signs representing the hotun, or 5-tun, period.
Fig.67. Signs representing the hotun, or 5-tun, period.
It will be noted that this date 9.18.10.0.0 10Ahau 8 Zacis just 5.0.0 (5 tuns) later than the date recorded by the Initial Series on Zoömorph P at Quirigua (see pl.6,A). As explained in Chapter II (pp.33-34), the interval between succeeding monuments at Quirigua is in every case 1,800 days, or 5 tuns. Therefore, it would seem probable that at Quirigua at least this period was the unit used for marking the lapse of time. As each 5-tun period was completed, its close was marked by the erection of a monument, on which was recorded its ending date. Thus the writer believes Zoömorph P marked the close of the 5-tun period ending 9.18.5.0.0 4Ahau 13 Ceh, and Stela I, the 5-tun period next following, that ending 9.18.10.0.010 Ahau 8 Zac. In other words, Zoömorph P and Stela I were two successive time-markers, or "period stones," in the chronological record at Quirigua. For this 5-tun period so conspicuously recorded in the inscriptions from the older Maya cities the writer would suggest the namehotun,homeaning 5 in Maya andtunbeing the name of the 360-day period. This word has an etymological parallel in the Maya word for the 20-tun period,katun, which we have seen may have been named directly from its numerical value,kalbeing the word for 20 in Maya andkaltuncontracted to katun, thus meaning 20 tuns. Although no glyph for thehotunhas as yet been identified,[126]the writer is inclined to believe that the sign in figure67,a, b, which is frequently encountered in the texts, will be found to represent this time period. The bar at the top in bothaandb, figure67, surely signifies 5; therefore the glyph itself must mean "1 tun." This form recalls the very unusual variant of the tun from Palenque (see fig.29,h). Both have the wing and the (*) element.
The next Initial Series presented (see pl.6,D) is from Stela 24 at Naranjo.[127]The text opens with the introducing glyph, which is in the same relative position as the introducing glyph in the other Naranjo text (pl.6,B) at A1. Then follows regularly in B1-B3 the number 9.12.10.5.12, the numbers and period glyphs of which are all expressed by normal forms. By this time the student should have no difficulty in recognizing these and in determining the number as given above. Reducing this according to rule 1, page134, the following result should be obtained:
Deducting[128]from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 73 (see preliminary rule, p.143, and TableXVI), we may reduce it to 572 without affecting its value in so far as the present calculations are concerned (1,386,112-1,385,540). First applying rule 1, page139, and next rule 2, page140, to this number (572), the student will find the day reached to be4 Eb. And applying rule 3, page141, he will find that the year position reached will be10 Yax;[129]hence, the terminal date as determined by calculation will be4 Eb 10 Yax.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYBULLETIN 57 PLATE 7
Plate 7GLYPHS REPRESENTING INITIAL SERIES, SHOWING USE OF BAR AND DOT NUMERALS AND HEAD-VARIANT PERIOD GLYPHS
GLYPHS REPRESENTING INITIAL SERIES, SHOWING USE OF BAR AND DOT NUMERALS AND HEAD-VARIANT PERIOD GLYPHS
Turning again to the text (pl.6,D), the next step (see step 5, p.151) is to find the glyphs representing the above terminal date. In this connection it should be remembered that the day part of an Initial-series terminal date usually follows immediately the last period glyph of the number. The glyph in A4, therefore, should record the day reached. Comparing this form with the several day signs in figure16, it appears that A4 more closely resembles the sign forEb(fig.16,s-u) than any of the others, hence the student may acceptEbas the day sign recorded in A4. The 4 dots prefixed to this sign show that the day4 Ebis here indicated. The month sign, as stated on page152, usually follows the last glyph of the Supplementary Series; passing over B4, A5, B5, and A6, we reach the latter glyph in B6. Compare the left half of B6 with the forms given in figure65. The coefficient 9 or 10 is expressed by a considerably effaced head numeral. Immediately following the month-sign "indicator" is the month sign itself in A7. The student will have little difficulty in tracing its resemblance to the monthYaxin figure19,q, r, although in A7 theYaxelement itself appears as the prefix instead of as the superfix, as inqandr, just cited. This difference, however, is immaterial. The month coefficient is quite clearly 10,[130]and the whole terminal date recorded will read4 Eb 10 Yax, which corresponds exactly with the terminal date determined by calculation. We may accept this text, therefore, as recording the Initial-series date 9.12.10.5.124 Eb 10 Yaxof Maya chronology.
In the foregoing examples nothing but normal-form period glyphs have been presented, in order that the first exercises in deciphering the inscriptions may be as easy as possible. By this time, however, the student should be sufficiently familiar with the normal forms of the period glyphs to be able to recognize them when they are present in the text, and the next Initial Series figured will have its period glyphs expressed by head variants.
In A, plate7, is figured the Initial Series from Stela B at Copan.[131]The introducing glyph appears at the head of the inscription in A1and is followed by a head-variant glyph in A2, to which is prefixed a bar and dot coefficient of 9. By its position, immediately following the introducing glyph, we are justified in assuming that A2 records 9 cycles, and after comparing it withd-f, figure25, where the head variant of the cycle sign is shown, this assumption becomes a certainty. Both heads have the same clasped hand in the same position, across the lower part of the face, which, as explained on page68, is the essential element of the cycle head; therefore, A2 records 9 cycles. The next glyph, A3, should be the katun sign, and a comparison of this form with the head variant for katun ine-h, figure27, shows this to be the case. The determining characteristic (see p.69) is probably the oval in the top of the head, which appears in both of these forms for the katun. The katun coefficient is 15 (3 bars). The next glyph, A4, should record the tuns, and by comparing this form with the head variant for the tun sign ine-g, figure29, this also is found to be the case. Both heads show the same essential characteristic—the fleshless lower jaw (see p.70). The coefficient is 0 (compare fig.47). The uinal head in A5 is equally unmistakable. Note the large curl protruding from the back part of the mouth, which was said (p.71) to be the essential element of this sign. Compare figure31,d-f, where the head variant for the uinal is given. The coefficient of A5 is like the coefficient of A4 (0), and we have recorded, therefore, 0 uinals. The closing period glyph of the Initial Series in A6 is the head variant for the kin sign. Compare this form with figure34,e-g, where the kin head is figured. The determining characteristic of this head is the subfixial element, which appears also in the normal form for the kin sign (see fig.34,a). Again, the coefficient of A6 is like the coefficient of A4 and A5, hence we have recorded here 0 kins.
The number recorded by the head-variant period glyphs and normal-form numerals in A2-A6 is therefore 9.15.0.0.0; reducing this by means of TableXIII, we have:
Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 73 (see TableXVI), it may be reduced to 18,460. Applying to this number rules 1 and 2 (pp.139and140, respectively), the day reached will be found to be4 Ahau. Applying rule 3 (p.141), the position of4 Ahauin the year will be found to be13 Yax. Therefore the terminal date determined by calculation will be4 Ahau 13 Yax.
According to step 5 (p.151), the day reached should follow immediately the last period glyph, which in this case was in A6; hence the day should be recorded in A7. This glyph has a coefficient 4, but the glyph does not resemble either of the forms forAhaushown in B5, plate6,A, or in B4a,Cof the same plate. However, by comparing this glyph with the second variant for the day signAhauin figure16,h'-i', the two forms will be found to be identical, and we may accept A7 as recording the day4 Ahau. Immediately following in A8 is the month sign, again out of its usual place as in plate 6,C. Comparing it with the month signs in figure19, it will be found to exactly correspond with the sign forYaxinq-r. The coefficient is 13. Therefore the terminal date recorded,4 Ahau 13 Yax, agrees with the terminal date reached by calculation, and the whole Initial Series reads 9.15.0.0.04 Ahau 13 Yax. This date marks the close not only of a hotun in the Long Count, but of a katun as well.
InB, plate7, is figured the Initial Series from Stela A at Copan.[132]The introducing glyph appears in A1 B1, and is followed by the Initial-series number in A2-A4. The student will have no difficulty in picking out the clasped hand in A2, the oval in the top of the head in B2, the fleshless lower jaw in A3, the large mouth curl in B3, and the flaring subfix in A4, which are the essential elements of the head variants for the cycle, katun, tun, uinal, and kin, respectively. Compare these glyphs with figures25,d-f,27,e-h,29,e-g,31,d-f, and34,e-g, respectively. The coefficients of these period glyphs are all normal forms and the student will have no difficulty in reading this number as 9.14.19.8.0.[133]
Reducing this by means of TableXIIIto units of the 1st order, we have:
Deducting from this all the Calendar Rounds possible, 73 (see TableXVI), and applying rules 1 and 2 (pp.139and140, respectively), to the remainder, the day reached will be12 Ahau. And applying rule 3 (p.141), the month reached will be18 Cumhu, giving for the terminal date as reached by calculation12 Ahau 18 Cumhu. The day should be recorded in B4, and an examination of this glyph shows that its coefficient is 12, the day coefficient reached by calculation. The glyph itself, however, is unlike the forms forAhaupreviously encountered in plate6,A, B5 andC, B4b, and in plate7,A, A7. Turningnow to the forms for the day signAhauin figure16, it is seen that the form in A4 resembles the third variantj' ork', the grotesque head, and it is clear that the day12 Ahauis here recorded. At first sight the student might think that the month glyph follows in A5, but a closer inspection of this form shows that this is not the case. In the first place, since the day sign isAhauthe month coefficient must be either 3, 8, 13, or 18, not 7, as recorded (see TableVII), and, in the second place, the glyph itself in A5 bears no resemblance whatsoever to any of the month signs in figure19. Consequently the month part of the Initial-series terminal date of this text should follow the closing glyph of the Supplementary Series. Following along the glyphs next in order, we reach in A9 a glyph with a coefficient 9, although the sign itself bears no resemblance to the month-glyph "indicators" heretofore encountered (see fig.65).
The glyph following, however, in A9b is quite clearly18 Cumhu(see fig.19,g'-h'), which is the month part of the terminal date as reached by calculation. Therefore, since A9a has the coefficient 9 it is probable that it is a variant of the month-glyph "indicator";[134]and consequently that the month glyph itself follows, as we have seen, in B9. In other words, the terminal date recorded,12 Ahau 18 Cumhu, agrees with the terminal date reached by calculation, and the whole text, so far as it can be deciphered, reads 9.14.19.8.012 Ahau 18 Cumhu. The student will note that this Initial Series precedes the Initial Series in plate7,Aby exactly 10 uinals, or 200 days. CompareAandB, plate7.
In plate8,A, is figured the Initial Series from Stela 6 at Copan.[135]The introducing glyph occupies the space of four glyph-blocks, A1-B2, and there follows in A3-B4a the Initial-series number 9.12.10.0.0. The cycle glyph in A3 is partially effaced; the clasped hand, however, the determining characteristic of the cycle head, may still be distinguished. The katun head in B3 is also unmistakable, as it has the same superfix as in the normal form for the katun. At first sight the student might read the bar and dot coefficient as 14, but the two middle crescents are purely decorative and have no numerical value, and the numeral recorded here is 12 (see pp. 88-91). Although the tun and uinal period glyphs in A4a and A4b,[136]respectively, are effaced, their coefficients may be distinguished as 10 and 0, respectively. In such a case the student is perfectly justified in assuming that the tun and uinal signs originally stood here. In B4a the kin period glyph is expressed by its normal form and the kin coefficient by a head-variant numeral, the clasped hand of which indicates that it stands for 0 (see fig.53,s-w).[137]The number here recorded is 9.12.10.0.0.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYBULLETIN 57 PLATE 8
Plate 8GLYPHS REPRESENTING INITIAL SERIES, SHOWING USE OF BAR AND DOT NUMERALS AND HEAD-VARIANT PERIOD GLYPHS
GLYPHS REPRESENTING INITIAL SERIES, SHOWING USE OF BAR AND DOT NUMERALS AND HEAD-VARIANT PERIOD GLYPHS
Reducing this to units of the 1st order by means of TableXIII, we have:
Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 73 (see TableXVI), and applying to the remainder rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp.139-141), respectively, the date reached by the resulting calculations will be9 Ahau 18 Zotz. Turning to our text again, the student will have little difficulty in identifying B4b as9 Ahau, the day of the above terminal date. The formAhauhere recorded is the grotesque head, the third variantj'ork'in figure16. Following the next glyphs in order, A5-A6, the closing glyph of the Supplementary Series is reached in B6a. Compare this glyph with the forms in figure65. The coefficient of B6a is again a head-variant numeral, as in the case of the kin period glyph in B4a, above. The fleshless lower jaw and other skull-like characteristics indicate that the numeral 10 is here recorded. Compare B6a with figure52,m-r. Since B6a is the last glyph of the Supplementary Series, the next glyph B6b should represent the month sign. By comparing the latter form with the month signs in figure19the student will readily recognize that the sign forZotzineorfis the month sign here recorded. The coefficient 18 stands above. Consequently, B4b and B6b represent the same terminal date,9 Ahau 18 Zotz, as reached by calculation. This whole Initial Series reads 9.12.10.0.09 Ahau 18 Zotz, and according to the writer's view, the monument upon which it occurs (Stela 6 at Copan) was the period stone for the hotun which began with the day 9.12.5.0.14 Imix 4 Xul[138]and ended with the day 9.12.10.0.09 Ahau 18 Zotz, here recorded.
In plate8,B, is figured the Initial Series from Stela 9 at Copan.[139]The introducing glyph stands in A1-B2 and is followed by the five period glyphs in A3-A5. The cycle is very clearly recorded in A3, the clasped hand being of a particularly realistic form. Althoughthe coefficient is partially effaced, enough remains to show that it was above 5, having had originally more than the one bar which remains, and less than 11, there being space for only one more bar or row of dots. In all the previous Initial Series the cycle coefficient was 9, consequently it is reasonable to assume that 4 dots originally occupied the effaced part of this glyph. If the use of 9 cycles in this number gives a terminal date which agrees with the terminal date recorded, the above assumption becomes a certainty. In B3 six katuns are recorded. Note the ornamental dotted ovals on each side of the dot in the numeral 6. Although the head for the tun in A4 is partially effaced, we are warranted in assuming that this was the period originally recorded here. The coefficient 10 appears clearly. The uinal head in B4 is totally unfamiliar and seems to have the fleshless lower jaw properly belonging to the tun head; from its position, however, the 4th in the number, we are justified in calling this glyph the uinal sign. Its coefficient denotes that 0 uinals are recorded here. Although the period glyph in A5 is also entirely effaced, the coefficient appears clearly as 0, and from position again, 5th in the number, we are justified once more in assuming that 0 kins were originally recorded, here. It seems at first glance that the above reading of the number A3-A5 rests on several assumptions:
1. That the cycle coefficient was originally 9.2. That the effaced glyph in A4 was a tun head.3. That the irregular head in B4 is a uinal head.4. That the effaced glyph in A5 was a kin sign.
1. That the cycle coefficient was originally 9.2. That the effaced glyph in A4 was a tun head.3. That the irregular head in B4 is a uinal head.4. That the effaced glyph in A5 was a kin sign.
1. That the cycle coefficient was originally 9.
2. That the effaced glyph in A4 was a tun head.
3. That the irregular head in B4 is a uinal head.
4. That the effaced glyph in A5 was a kin sign.
The last three are really certainties, since the Maya practice in recording Initial Series demanded that the five period glyphs requisite—the cycle, katun, tun, uinal, and kin—should follow each other in this order, and in no other. Hence, although the 3d, 4th, and 5th glyphs are either irregular or effaced, they must have been the tun, uinal, and kin signs, respectively. Indeed, the only important assumption consisted in arbitrarily designating the cycle coefficient 9, when, so far as the appearance of A3 is concerned, it might have been either 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10. The reason for choosing 9 rests on the overwhelming evidence of antecedent probability. Moreover, as stated above, if the terminal date recorded agrees with the terminal date determined by calculation, using the cycle coefficient as 9, our assumption becomes a certainty. Designating the above number as 9.6.10.0.0 then and reducing this by means of TableXIII, we obtain:
Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 70 (see TableXVI), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp.139,140, and141, respectively) to the remainder, the date determined by the resulting calculations will be8 Ahau 13 Pax. Turning to our text again, the student will have little difficulty in recognizing the first part of this date, the day8 Ahau, in B5. The numeral 8 appears clearly, and the day sign is the profile-headh'ori', the second variant forAhauin figure16. The significance of the element standing between the numeral and the day sign is unknown. Following along through A6, B6, A7, B7, the closing glyph of the Supplementary Series is reached in A8. The glyph itself is on the left and the coefficient, here expressed by a head variant, is on the right. The student will have no difficulty in recognizing the glyph and its coefficient by comparing the former with figure65, and the latter with the head variant for 10 in figure52,m-r. Note the fleshless lower jaw in the head numeral in both places. The following glyph, B8, is one of the clearest in the entire text. The numeral is 13, and the month sign on comparison with figure19unmistakably proves itself to be the sign forPaxinc'. Therefore the terminal date recorded in B5, B8, namely,8 Ahau 13 Pax, agrees with the terminal date determined by calculation; it follows, further, that the effaced cycle coefficient in A3 must have been 9, the value tentatively ascribed to it in the above calculations. The whole Initial Series reads 9.6.10.0.08 Ahau 13 Pax.
Some of the peculiarities of the numerals and signs in this text are doubtless due to its very great antiquity, for the monument presenting this inscription, Stela 9, records the next to earliest Initial Series[140]yet deciphered at Copan.[141]Evidences of antiquity appear in the glyphs in several different ways. The bars denoting 5 have square ends and all show considerable ornamentation. This type of bar was an early manifestation and gave way in later times to more rounded forms. The dots also show this greater ornamentation, which is reflected, too, by the signs themselves. The head forms show greater attention to detail, giving the whole glyph a more ornate appearance. All this embellishment gave way in later times to more simplified forms, and we have represented in this text a stage in glyph morphology before conventionalization had worn down the different signs to little more than their essential elements.
Fig. 68Fig.68. Initial Series showing bar and dot numerals and head-variant period glyphs:A, Stela C (west side), Quirigua;B, Stela M, Copan.
Fig.68. Initial Series showing bar and dot numerals and head-variant period glyphs:A, Stela C (west side), Quirigua;B, Stela M, Copan.
In figure68,A, is figured the Initial Series on the west side of Stela C at Quirigua.[142]The introducing glyph in A1-B2 is followed by the number in A3-A5, which the student will have no difficulty in reading except for the head-variant numeral attached to the kin sign in A5. The clasped hand in this glyph, however, suggests that 0 kins are recorded here, and a comparison of this form with figure53,s-w, confirms the suggestion. The number therefore reads 9.1.0.0.0. Reducing this number by means of TableXIIIto units of the 1st order, we obtain:
Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 68 (see TableXVI), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp.139,140, and141, respectively) to the remainder, we reach for the terminal date6 Ahau 13 Yaxkin. Looking for the day part of this date in B5, we find that the form there recorded bears no resemblance to6 Ahau, the day determined by calculation. Moreover, comparison of it with the day signs in figure16shows that it is unlike all of them; further, there isno bar and dot coefficient. These several points indicate that the day sign is not the glyph in B5, also that the day sign is, therefore, out of its regular position. The next glyph in the text, A6, instead of being one of the Supplementary Series is the day glyph6 Ahau, which should have been recorded in B5. The student will readily make the same identification after comparing A6 with figure16,e'-g'. A glance at the remainder of the text, will show that no Supplementary Series is recorded, and consequently that the month glyph will be found immediately following the day glyph in B6. The form in B6 has a coefficient 13, one of the four (3, 8, 13, 18) which the month must have, since the day sign isAhau(see TableVII). A comparison of the form in B6 with the month signs in figure19shows that the monthYaxkininkorlis the form here recorded; therefore the terminal date recorded agrees with the terminal date reached by calculation, and the text reads 9.1.0.0.06 Ahau 13 Yaxkin.[143]
In figure68,B, is shown the Initial Series on Stela M at Copan.[144]The introducing glyph appears in A1 and the Initial-series number in B1a-B2a. The student will note the use of both normal-form and head-variant period glyphs in this text, the cycle, tun, and uinal in B1a, A2a, and A2b, respectively, being expressed by the latter, and the katun and kin in B1b and B2a, respectively, by the former. The number recorded is 9.16.5.0.0, and this reduces to units of the first order, as follows (see TableXIII):
Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 74 (see TableXVI), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp.139,140, and141, respectively) to the remainder, the terminal date reached by the resulting calculations will be8 Ahau 8 Zotz. Turning to our text, the student will have no difficulty in recognizing in B2b the day8 Ahau. The month glyph in this inscription irregularly follows immediatelythe day glyph. Compare the form in A3a with the month signs in figure19and it will be found to be the sign forZotz(see fig.19,e-f). The coefficient is 8 and the whole glyph represents the month part8 Zotz, the same as determined by calculation. This whole Initial Series reads 9.16.5.0.08 Ahau 8 Zotz.
The Maya texts presented up to this point have all been drawings of originals, which are somewhat easier to make out than either photographs of the originals or the originals themselves. However, in order to familiarize the student with photographic reproductions of Maya texts a few will be inserted here illustrating the use of bar and dot numerals with both normal-form and head-variant period glyphs, with which the student should be perfectly familiar by this time.
In plate9,A, is figured a photograph of the Initial Series on the front of Stela 11 at Yaxchilan.[145]The introducing glyph appears in A1 B1; 9 cycles in A2; 16 katuns in B2, 1 tun in A3, 0 uinals in B3, and 0 kins in B4. The student will note the clasped hand in the cycle head, the oval in the top of the katun head, the large mouth curl in the uinal head, and the flaring postfix in the kin head. The tun is expressed by its normal form. The number here recorded is 9.16.1.0.0, and reducing this to units of the first order by means of TableXIII, we have:
Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 74 (see TableXVI), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp.139,140, and141, respectively), to the remainder, the terminal date reached by the resulting calculations will be11 Ahau 8 Tzec. The day part of this date is very clearly recorded in B4 immediately after the last period glyph, and the student will readily recognize the day11 Ahauin this form. Following along the glyphs of the Supplementary Series in C1 D1, C2 D2, the closing glyph is reached in C3b. It is very clear and has a coefficient of 9. The glyph following (D3) should record the month sign. A comparison of this form with the several month signs in figure19shows thatTzecis the month here recorded. Compare D3 with figure19,g-h. The month coefficient is 8. The terminal date, therefore, recorded in B4 and D3 (11 Ahau 8 Tzec) agrees with the terminal date determined by calculation, and this whole text reads 9.16.1.0.011 Ahau 8 Tzec. The meaning of the element between the tun coefficient and the tun sign in A3, which is repeated again in D3 between the month coefficient and the month sign, is unknown.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYBULLETIN 57 PLATE 9