Plate 22EXAMPLES OF PERIOD-ENDING DATES IN CYCLES OTHER THAN CYCLE 9
EXAMPLES OF PERIOD-ENDING DATES IN CYCLES OTHER THAN CYCLE 9
The foregoing Period-ending dates have all been in Cycle 9, even though this fact has not been recorded in any of the above examples. We come next to the consideration of Period-ending dates which occurred in cycles other than Cycle 9.
In plate22,A, is figured a Period-ending date from the tablet in the Temple of the Cross at Palenque.[211]In glyphs 1 and 2 appears the date4 Ahau 8 Cumhu(compare the month form in glyph 2 with fig.19,g', h'), and in glyph 3 an ending sign (compare glyph 3 with the ending signs in fig.37,l-q, and with the zero signs in fig.54). There follows in glyph 4, Cycle 13. These four glyphs record the fact, therefore, that Cycle 13 closed on the date4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, the starting point of Maya chronology. This same date is again recorded on a round altar at Piedras Negras (see pl.22,B).[212]In glyphs 1 and 2 appears the date4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, and in glyph 3a the ending sign, which is identical with the ending sign in the preceding example, both having the clasped hand, the subfix showing a curl infix, and the tassel-like postfix. Compare also figure37,l-q, and figure54. Glyph 3b clearly records Cycle 13. The dates in plate22,A, B, are therefore identical. In both cases the cycle is expressed by its normal form.
In plate22,C, is figured a Period-ending date from the tablet in the Temple of the Foliated Cross at Palenque.[213]In glyph 1 appears an ending sign in which the hand element and tassel-like postfix show clearly. This is followed in glyph 2 by Cycle 2, the clasped hand on the head variant unmistakably indicating the cycle head. Finally, in glyphs 3 and 4 appears the date2 Ahau 3 Uayeb(compare the month form with fig.19,i').[214]The glyphs in plate22,C, record, therefore, the fact that Cycle 2 closed on the date2 Ahau 3 Uayeb, a fact which the student may prove for himself by converting this Period-ending date into its corresponding Initial Series and solving the same. Since the end of a cycle is recorded here, it is evident that the katun, tun, uinal, and kin coefficients must all be 0, and our Initial-series number will be, therefore, 2.0.0.0.0. Reducing this to units of the 1st order and proceeding as in the case of Initial Series, the terminal date reached will be2 Ahau 3 Uayeb, just as recorded in glyphs 3 and 4. The Initial Series corresponding to this Period-ending date will be 2.0.0.0.02 Ahau 3 Uayeb.
These three Period-ending dates (pl.22,A-C) are not to be considered as referring to times contemporaneous with the erection of the monuments upon which they are severally inscribed, since theyprecede the opening of Cycle 9, the first historic epoch of the Maya civilization, by periods ranging from 2,700 to 3,500 years. As explained elsewhere, they probably referred to mythological events. There is a date, however, on a tablet in the Temple of the Cross at Palenque which falls in Cycle 8, being fixed therein by an adjoining Period-ending date that may have been historical. This case is figured in plate22,G.[215]In glyphs 4 and 5 appears the date8 Ahau 13 Ceh(compare the month form in glyph 5 with fig.16,u, v). This is followed in glyph 6 by a sign which shows the same ending element as the forms in figure37,i, r, u, v, and this in turn is followed by Cycle 9 in glyph 7. The date recorded in this case is Cycle 9 ending on the date8 Ahau 13 Ceh, which corresponds to the Initial Series 9.0.0.0.08 Ahau 13 Ceh.
Now, in glyphs 1 and 2 is recorded the date2 Caban 10 Xul(compare the day sign with fig.16,a', b', and the month sign with fig.19,i, j), and following this date in glyph 3 is the number 3 kins, 6 uinals, or 6.3. This looks so much like a Secondary Series that we are justified in treating it as such until it proves to be otherwise. As the record stands, it seems probable that if we count this number 6.3 in glyph 3 forward from the date2 Caban 10 Xulin glyphs 1 and 2, the terminal date reached will be the date recorded in glyphs 4 and 5; that is, the next date following the number. Reducing 6.3 to units of the first order, we have:
Counting this number forward from2 Caban 10 Xulaccording to the rules which apply in such cases, the terminal day reached will be8 Ahau 13 Ceh, exactly the date which is recorded in glyphs 4 and 5. But this latter date, we have just seen, is declared by the text to have closed Cycle 9, and therefore corresponded with the Initial Series 9.0.0.0.08 Ahau 13 Ceh. Hence, from this known Initial Series we may calculate the Initial Series of the date2 Caban 10 Xulby subtracting from 9.0.0.0.0 the number 6.3, by which the date2 Caban 10 Xulprecedes the date 9.0.0.0.08 Ahau 13 Ceh:
This latter date fell in Cycle 8, as its Initial Series indicates. It is quite possible, as stated above, that this date may have referred to some actual historic event in the annals of Palenque, or at least ofthe southern Maya, though the monument upon which it is recorded probably dates from an epoch at least 200 years later.
In a few cases Cycle-10 ending dates have been found. Some of these are surely "contemporaneous," that is, the monuments upon which they appear really date from Cycle 10, while others are as surely "prophetic," that is, the monuments upon which they are found antedate Cycle 10. Examples of both kinds follow.
In plate22,E, is figured a Period-ending date from Stela 8 at Copan.[216]Glyphs 1 and 2 declare the date7 Ahau 18 ?, the month sign in glyph 2 being effaced. In glyph 3 is recorded Cycle 10, the cycle sign being expressed by its corresponding head variant. Note the clasped hand, the essential characteristic of the cycle head. Above this appears the same ending sign as that shown in figure37,a-h, and it would seem probable, therefore, that these three glyphs record the end of Cycle 10. Let us test this by changing the Period-ending date in glyph 3 into its corresponding Initial-series number and then solving this for the resulting terminal date. Since the end of a cycle is here indicated, the katun, tun, uinal, and kin coefficients must be 0 and the Initial-series number will be, therefore, 10.0.0.0.0. Reducing this to units of the first order and applying the rules indicated in such cases, the resulting terminal date will be found to be7 Ahau 18 Zip. But this agrees exactly with the date recorded in glyphs 1 and 2 so far as the latter go, and since the two agree so far as they go, we may conclude that glyphs 1-3 in plate22,E, express "Cycle 10 ending on the date7 Ahau 18 Zip." Although this is a comparatively late date for Copan, the writer is inclined to believe that it was "contemporaneous" rather than "prophetic."
The same can not be said, however, for the Cycle-10 ending date on Zoömorph G at Quirigua (see pl.22,F). Indeed, this date, as will appear below, is almost surely "prophetic" in character. Glyphs 1 and 2 record the date7 Ahau 18 Zip(compare the month form in glyph 2 with fig.19,d) and glyph 3 shows very clearly "the end of Cycle 10." Compare the ending prefix in glyph 4 with the same element in fig.37,a-h. Hence we have recorded here the fact that "Cycle 10 ended on the date7 Ahau 18 Zip," a fact proved also by calculation in connection with the preceding example. Does this date represent, therefore, the contemporaneous time of Zoömorph G, the time at which it was erected, or at least dedicated? Before answering this question, let us consider the rest of the text from which this example is taken. The Initial Series on Zoömorph G at Quirigua has already been shown in figure70, and, according to page187, it records the date 9.17.15.0.05 Ahau 3 Muan. On the grounds of antecedent probability, we are justified in assuming at the outset that this datetherefore indicates the epoch or position of Zoömorph G in the Long Count, because it alone appears as an Initial Series. In the case of all the other monuments at Quirigua,[217]where there is but one Initial Series in the inscription, that Initial Series marks the position of the monument in the Long Count. It seems likely, therefore, judging from the general practice at Quirigua, that 9.17.15.0.05 Ahau 3 Muanwas the contemporaneous date of Zoömorph G, not 10.0.0.0.07 Ahau 18 Zip, that is, the Initial Series corresponding to the Period-ending date here under discussion (see pl.22,F).[218]
Other features of this text point to the same conclusion. In addition to the Initial Series on this monument there are upward of a dozen Secondary-series dates, all of which exceptonelead to 9.17.15.0.05 Ahau 3 Muan. Moreover, this latter date is recorded thrice in the text, a fact which points to the conclusion that it was the contemporaneous date of this monument.
There is still another, perhaps the strongest reason of all, for believing that Zoömorph G dates from 9.17.15.0.05 Ahau 3 Muanrather than from 10.0.0.0.07 Ahau 18 Zip. If assigned to the former date, every hotun from 9.15.15.0.09 Ahau 18 Xulto 9.19.0.0.09 Ahau 18 Molhas its corresponding marker or period-stone at Quirigua, there being not a single break in the sequence of the fourteen monuments necessary to mark the thirteen hotun endings between these two dates. If, on the other hand, the date 10.0.0.0.07 Ahau 18 Zipis assigned to this monument, the hotun ending 9.17.15.0.05 Ahau 3 Muanis left without its corresponding monument at this city, as are also all the hotuns after 9.19.0.0.09 Ahau 18 Molup to 10.0.0.0.07 Ahau 18 Zip, a total of four in all. The perfect sequence of the monuments at Quirigua developed by regarding Zoömorph G as dating from 9.17.15.0.05 Ahau 3 Muan, and the very fragmentary sequence which arises if it is regarded as dating from 10.0.0.0.07 Ahau 18 Zip, is of itself practically sufficient to prove that the former is the correct date, and when taken into consideration with the other points above mentioned leaves no room for doubt.
If this is true, as the writer believes, the date "Cycle 10 ending on7 Ahau 18 Zip" on Zoömorph G is "prophetic" in character, since it did not occur until nearly 45 years after the erection of the monument upon which it was recorded, at which time the city of Quirigua had probably been abandoned, or at least had lost her prestige.
Another Cycle-10 ending date, which differs from the preceding in that it is almost surely contemporaneous, is that on Stela 11 at Seibal,the latest of the great southern sites.[219]This is figured in plate22,D. Glyphs 1 and 2 show very clearly the date7 Ahau 18 Zip, and glyph 3 declares this to be "at the end of Cycle 10."[220]Compare the ending-sign superfix in glyph 3 with figure37,a-h. This glyph is followed by 1 katun in 4, which in turn is followed by the date5 Ahau 3 Kayabin 5 and 6. Finally, glyph 7 declares "The end of Katun 1." Counting forward 1 katun from 10.0.0.0.07 Ahau 18 Zip, the date reached will be5 Ahau 3 Kayab, as recorded by 5 and 6, and the Initial Series corresponding to this date will be 10.1.0.0.05 Ahau 3 Kayab, as declared by glyph 7. See below:
This latter date is found also on Stelæ 8, 9, and 10, at the same city.
Another Cycle-10 ending date which was probably "prophetic", like the one on Zoömorph G at Quirigua, is figured on Altar S at Copan (see fig.81). In the first glyph on the left appears an Initial-series introducing glyph; this is followed in glyphs 1-3 by the Initial-series number 9.15.0.0.0, which the student will find leads to the terminal date4 Ahau 13 Yaxrecorded in glyph 4. This whole Initial Series reads, therefore, 9.15.0.0.04 Ahau 13 Yax. In glyph 6a is recorded 5 katuns and in glyph 7 the date7 Ahau 18 Zip, in other words, a Secondary Series.[221]Reducing the number in glyph 6a to units of the first order, we have:
Fig. 81Fig.81. The Initial Series, Secondary Series, and Period-ending date on Altar S, Copan.
Fig.81. The Initial Series, Secondary Series, and Period-ending date on Altar S, Copan.
Counting this number forward from the date4 Ahau 13 Yax, the terminal date reached will be found to agree with the date recorded in glyph 7,7 Ahau 18 Zip. But turning to our text again, we find that this date is declared by glyph 8a to be at the end of Cycle 10. Compare the ending sign, which appears as the superfix in glyph 8a, with figure37,a-h. Therefore the Secondary-series date7 Ahau 18 Zip, there recorded, closed Cycle 10. The same fact could have been determined by adding the Secondary-series number in glyph 6a to the Initial-series number of the starting point4 Ahau 13 Yaxin glyphs 1-3:
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYBULLETIN 57 PLATE 23
Plate 23INITIAL SERIES, SECONDARY SERIES, AND PERIOD-ENDING DATES ON STELA 3, PIEDRAS NEGRAS
INITIAL SERIES, SECONDARY SERIES, AND PERIOD-ENDING DATES ON STELA 3, PIEDRAS NEGRAS
The "end of Cycle 10" in glyph 8a is merely redundancy. The writer believes that 9.15.0.0.04 Ahau 13 Yaxindicates the present time of Altar S rather than 10.0.0.0.07 Ahau 18 Zip, and that consequently the latter date was "prophetic" in character, as was the same date on Zoömorph G at Quirigua. One reason which renders this probable is that the sculpture on Altar S very closely resembles the sculpture on Stelæ A and B at Copan, both of which date from 9.15.0.0.04 Ahau 13 Yax. A possible explanation of the record of Cycle 10 on this monument is the following: On the date of this monument, 9.15.0.0.04 Ahau 13 Yax, just three-fourths of Cycle 9 had elapsed. This important fact would hardly have escaped the attention of the old astronomer-priests, and they may have used this monument to point out that only a quarter cycle, 5 katuns, was left in Cycle 9. This concludes the discussion of Cycle-10 Period-ending dates.
The student will note in the preceding example (fig.81) that Initial-series, Secondary-series, and Period-ending dating have all been used together in the same text, glyphs 1-4 recording an Initial-series date, glyphs 6a and 7, a Secondary-series date, and glyphs 7 and 8a, a Period-ending date. This practice is not at all unusual in the inscriptions and several texts illustrating it are figured below.
Texts Recording Initial Series, Secondary Series, and Period Endings
In plate23is shown the inscription on Stela 3 at Piedras Negras. The introducing glyph appears in A1 and is followed by the Initial-series number 9.12.2.0.16 in B1-B3. This number reduced to units of the first order and counted forward from its starting point will be found to reach the terminal date5 Cib 14 Yaxkin, which the student will readily recognize in A4-B7; the "month-sign indicator" appearing very clearly in A7, with the coefficient 9 affixed to it. Compare the day sign in A4 with figure16,z, and the month sign in B7 with figure19,k, l. The Initial Series recorded in A1-A4, B7 reads, therefore, 9.12.2.0.165 Cib 14 Yaxkin. In C1 D1 is recorded the number 0 kins, 10 uinals, and 12 tuns; that is, 12.10.0, the first of several Secondary Series in this text. Reducing this to units of the first order and counting it forward from the terminal date of the Initial Series,5 Cib 14 Yaxkin, the terminal date of the Secondary Series will be found to be1 Cib 14 Kankin, which the student will find recorded in C2b D2a. The Initial-series value of this latter date may be calculated as follows:
Following along the text, the next Secondary-series number appears in D4-C5a and consists of 10 kins,[222]11 uinals, 1 tun, and 1 katun; thatis, 1.1.11.10. Reducing this number to units of the first order and counting it forward from the date next preceding it in the text, that is,1 Cib 14 Kankinin C2b D2a, the new terminal date reached will be4 Cimi 14 Uo, which the student will find recorded in D5-C6. Compare the day sign in D5 with figure16,h, i, and the month sign in C6 with figure19,b, c. The Initial-series value of this new date may be calculated from the known Initial-series value of the preceding date:
The third Secondary Series appears in E1 and consists of 15 kins,[223]8 uinals, and 3 tuns, or 3.8.15. Reducing this number to units of the first order and counting it forward from the date next preceding it in the text,4 Cimi 14 Uo, in D5-C6, the new terminal date reached will be11 Imix 14 Yax, which the student will find recorded in E2 F2. The day sign in E2 appears, as is very unusual, as a head variant of which only the headdress seems to show the essential element of the day signImix. Compare E2 with figure16,a, b, also the month sign in F2 with figure19,q, r. The Initial Series of this new terminal date may be calculated as above:
The fourth and last Secondary Series in this text follows in F6 and consists of 19 kins and 4 uinals, that is, 4.19. Reducing this number to units of the first order and counting it forward from the date next preceding it in the text,11 Imix 14 Yaxin E2 F2, the new terminal date reached will be6 Ahau 13 Muan, which the student will find recorded in F7-F8. Compare the month sign in F8 with figure19,a' b'. But the glyph following this date in F9 is very clearly an ending sign; note the hand, tassel-like postfix, and subfixial element showing the curl infix, all of which are characteristic ending elements (see figs.37,l-q, and54). Moreover, in F10 is recorded "the end of Katun 14." Compare the ending prefix in this glyph with figure37,a-h. This would seem to indicate that the date in F7-F8,6 Ahau 13 Muan, closed Katun 14 of Cycle 9 of the Long Count. Whether this be true or not may be tested by finding the Initial-series value corresponding to6 Ahau 13 Muan, as above:
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYBULLETIN 57 PLATE 24
Plate 24INITIAL SERIES, SECONDARY SERIES, AND PERIOD-ENDING DATES ON STELA E (WEST SIDE), QUIRIGUA
INITIAL SERIES, SECONDARY SERIES, AND PERIOD-ENDING DATES ON STELA E (WEST SIDE), QUIRIGUA
This shows that the date6 Ahau 13 Muanclosed Katun 14, as glyphs F9-F10 declare. This may also be verified by changing "the end of Katun 14" recorded in F9-F10 into its corresponding Initial-series value, 9.14.0.0.0, and solving for the terminal date. The day reached by these calculations will be6 Ahau 13 Muan, as above. This text, in so far as it has been deciphered, therefore reads:
The inscription just deciphered is worthy of special note for several reasons. In the first place, all its dates and numbers are not only exceedingly clear, thus facilitating their identification, but also unusually regular, the numbers being counted forward from the dates next preceding them to reach the dates next following them in every case; all these features make this text particularly well adapted for study by the beginner. In the second place, this inscription shows the three principal methods employed by the Maya in recording dates, that is, Initial-series dating, Secondary-series dating, and Period-ending dating, all combined in the same text, the example of each one being, moreover, unusually good. Finally, the Initial Series of this inscription records identically the same date as Stela 1 at Piedras Negras, namely, 9.12.2.0.165 Cib 14 Yaxkin. Compare plate23with plate17. Indeed, these two monuments, Stelæ 1 and 3, stand in front of the same building. All things considered, the inscription on Stela 3 at Piedras Negras is one of the most satisfactory texts that has been found in the whole Maya territory.
Another example showing the use of these three methods of dating in one and the same text is the inscription on Stela E at Quirigua, illustrated in plate24and figure82.[224]This text begins with the Initial Series on the west side. The introducing glyph appears in A1-B3 and is followed by the Initial-series number 9.14.13[225].4.17 in A4-A6. Reducing this number to units of the first order, remembering the correction in the tun coefficient in A5 noted below, and applying the rules previously given for solving Initial Series, the terminal datereached will be12 Caban 5 Kayab. This the student will readily recognize in B6-B8b, the form in B8a being the "month sign indicator," here shown with a head-variant coefficient 10. Compare B6 with figure16,a', b', and B8b with figure19,d'-f'. This Initial Series therefore should read as follows: 9.14.13.4.1712 Caban 5 Kayab. Following down the text, there is reached in B10b-A11a, a Secondary-series number consisting of 3 kins, 13 uinals, and 6 tuns, that is, 6.13.3. Counting this number forward from the date next preceding it in the text,12 Caban 5 Kayab, the date reached will be4 Ahau 13 Yax, which the student will find recorded in B11. Compare the month form in B11b with figure19,q, r. But since the Initial-series value of12 Caban 5 Kayabis known, the Initial-series value of4 Ahau 13 Yaxmay be calculated from it as follows:
Fig. 82Fig.82. The Initial Series on Stela E (east side), Quirigua.
Fig.82. The Initial Series on Stela E (east side), Quirigua.
The next Secondary-series number appears in B12, plate24,B, and consists of 6 kins, 14 uinals, and 1 tun, that is, 1.14.6.[226]The student will find that all efforts to reach the next date recorded in the text,6 Cimi 4 Tzecin A13b B13a, by counting forward 1.14.6 from4 Ahau 13 Yaxin B11, the date next preceding this number, will prove unsuccessful. However, by countingbackward1.14.6 from6 Cimi 4 Tzec, he will find the date from which the count proceeds is10 Ahau 8 Chen, though this latter date is nowhere recorded in this text. We have seen elsewhere, on Stela F for example (pl.19,A, B), that the date6 Cimi 4 Tzeccorresponded to the Initial-series number 9.15.6.14.6; consequently, we may calculate the position of the unrecordeddate10 Ahau 8 Chenin the Long Count from this known Initial Series, by subtracting[227]1.14.6 from it:
We now see that there are 5 tuns, that is, 1 hotun, not recorded here, namely, the hotun from 9.15.0.0.04 Ahau 13 Yax, to 9.15.5.0.010 Ahau 8 Chen, and further, that the Secondary-series number 1.14.6 in B12 is counted from the unexpressed date10 Ahau 8 Chento reach the terminal date6 Cimi 4 Tzecrecorded in A13b B13a.
The next Secondary-series number appears in A14b B14 and consists of 15 kins, 16 uinals, 1 tun, and 1 katun, that is, 1.1.16.15. As in the preceding case, however, all efforts to reach the date following this number,11 Imix 19 Muanin A15b B15a, by counting it forward from6 Cimi 4 Tzec, the date next preceding it in the text, will prove unavailing. As before, it is necessary to count itbackwardfrom11 Imix 19 Muanto determine the starting point. Performing this operation, the starting point will be found to be the date7 Cimi 9 Zotz. Since neither of these two dates,11 Imix 19 Muanand7 Cimi 9 Zotz, occurs elsewhere at Quirigua, we must leave their corresponding Initial-series values indeterminate for the present.
The last Secondary Series in this text is recorded in A17b B17a and consists of 19 kins,[228]4 uinals, and 8 tuns. Reducing this number to units of the first order and counting it forward from the date next preceding it in the text,11 Imix 19 Muanin A15b B15a, the terminal date reached will be13 Ahau 18 Cumhu, which the student will find recorded in A18. Compare the month sign with figure19,g', h'. But immediately following this date in B18a is Katun 17 and in the upper part of B18b the hand-denoting ending. These glyphs A18 and B18 would seem to indicate, therefore, that Katun 17 came to an end on the date13 Ahau 18 Cumhu. That they do, may be proved beyond all doubt by changing this period ending into its corresponding Initial-series number 9.17.0.0.0 and solving for the terminal date. This will be found to be13 Ahau 18 Cumhu, which is recorded in A18. This latter date, therefore, had the following position in the Long Count: 9.17.0.0.013 Ahau 18 Cumhu. But having determined the position of this latter date in the Long Count, that is, its Initial-series value, it is now possible to fix the positions of the two dates11 Imix 19 Muanand7 Cimi 9 Zotz, which we were obliged to leave indeterminate above. Since the date13 Ahau 18 Cumhuwas derivedby counting forward 8.4.19 from11 Imix 19 Muan, the Initial-series value of the latter may be calculated by subtracting 8.4.19 from the Initial-series value of the former:
And since the date11 Imix 19 Muanwas reached by counting forward 1.1.16.15 from7 Cimi 9 Zotz, the Initial-series value of the latter may be calculated by subtracting 1.1.16.15 from the now known Initial-series value of the former:
Although this latter date is not recorded in the text, the date next preceding the number 1.1.16.15 is6 Cimi 4 Tzec, which corresponded to the Initial Series 9.15.6.14.66 Cimi 4 Tzec, as we have seen, a date which was exactly 3 tuns earlier than7 Cimi 9 Zotz, 9.15.9.14.6-9.15.6.14.6 = 3.0.0.
The inscription on the west side closes then in A18 B18 with the record that Katun 17 ended on the date13 Ahau 18 Cumhu. The inscription on the east side of this same monument opens with this same date expressed as an Initial Series, 9.17.0.0.013 Ahau 18 Cumhu. See figure82, A1-A6, A7,[229]and A10.
The reiteration of this date as an Initial Series, when its position in the Long Count had been fixed unmistakably on the other side of the same monument by its record as a Period-ending date, together with the fact that it is the latest date recorded in this inscription, very clearly indicates that it alone designated the contemporaneous time of Stela E, and hence determines the fact that Stela E was a hotun-marker. This whole text, in so far as deciphered, reads as follows:
Comparing the summary of the inscription on Stela E at Quirigua, just given, with the summaries of the inscriptions on Stelæ J and F, and Zoömorph G, at the same city, all four of which are shown side by side in TableXVII,[231]the interrelationship of these four monuments appears very clearly.
TABLEXVII. INTERRELATIONSHIP OF DATES ON STELÆ E, F, AND J AND ZOÖMORPH G, QUIRIGUA
In spite of the fact that each one of these four monuments marks a different hotun in the Long Count, and consequently dates from a different period, all of them go back to the same date, 9.14.13.4.1712 Caban 5 Kayab, as their original starting point (see above). This date would almost certainly seem, therefore, to indicate some very important event in the annals of Quirigua. Moreover, since it is the earliest date found at this city which can reasonably be regarded as having occurred during the actual occupancy of the site, it is not improbable that it may represent, as explained elsewhere, the time at which Quirigua was founded.[232]It is necessary, however, tocaution the student that the above explanation of the date 9.14.13.4.1712 Caban 5 Kayab, or indeed any other for that matter, is in the present state of our knowledge entirely a matter of conjecture.
Passing on, it will be seen from TableXVIIthat two of the monuments, namely, Stelæ E and F, bear the date 9.15.0.0.04 Ahau 3 Yax, and two others, Stelæ E and J, the date 9.15.5.0.010 Ahau 8 Chen, one hotun later. All four come together again, however, with the date 9.15.6.14.66 Cimi 4 Tzec, which is recorded on each. This date, like 9.14.13.4.1712 Caban 5 Kayab, designates probably another important event in Quirigua history, the nature of which, however, again escapes us. After the date 9.15.6.14.66 Cimi 4 Tzec, these monuments show no further correspondences, and we may pass over the intervening time to their respective closing dates with but scant notice, with the exception of Zoömorph G, which records a half dozen dates in the hotun that it marks, 9.17.15.0.05 Ahau 3 Muan. (These latter are omitted from TableXVII.)
This concludes the presentation of Initial-series, Secondary-series, and Period-ending, dating, with which the student should be sufficiently familiar by this time to continue his researches independently.
It was explained (see p.76) that, when a Secondary-series date could not be referred ultimately to either an Initial-series date or a Period-ending date, its position in the Long Count could not be determined with certainty, and furthermore that such a date became merely one of the 18,980 dates of the Calendar Round and could be fixed only within a period of 52 years. A few examples of Calendar-round dating are given in figure83and plate25. In figure83, A, is shown a part of the inscription on Altar M at Quirigua.[233]In A1 B1 appears a number consisting of 0 kins, 2 uinals, and 3 tuns, that is, 3.2.0, and following this in A2b B2, the date4 Ahau 13 Yax, and in A3b B3 the date6 Ahau 18 Zac. Compare the month glyphs in B2 and B3 withqandr, andsandt, respectively, of figure19. This has every appearance of being a Secondary Series, one of the two dates being the starting point of the number 3.2.0, and the other its terminal date. Reducing 3.2.0 to units of the first order, we have:
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYBULLETIN 57 PLATE 25