ARCHEOLOGY. 



313 



The fourteen new Initial Series are : 



The most important results of Doctor Morley's explorations this season 

 center around the highly significant new stelae found at Uaxactun, and the 

 discovery of so large a new city as Naachtun. The ruins of Uaxactun were 

 discovered in 1916 by the Institution's Central American Expedition. At that 

 time this site was unique in having the first and only Baktun 8 Initial Series 

 monument then known, namely, Stela 9, recording the date 8.14.10.13.15, 

 approximately 68 A. D. 1 Last year another Baktun 8 Initial Series monument 

 was discovered at a new site, Uoluntun, 12 miles south of Uaxactun, recording 

 the date 8.18.13.5.11, approximately 150 A. D. 2 



This year no less than four more Baktun 8 dates were deciphered at Uax- 

 actun, three of them on new monuments: Stelae 17, 18, and 19, and the fourth 

 on Stela 4, discovered in 1916: 



The first two, Stelae 18 and 19, stand in front of the same temple and record 

 exactly the same day, an Initial Series in each case, the coefficients being 

 expressed by simple bar and dot numerals (see A and B, figure 1), and their 

 decipherment is correspondingly certain. This date is less than 29 years 

 later than the date on Stela 9 at this site, and these two stelae, therefore, 

 become the second and third earliest monuments yet found in the Maya area. 

 They also corroborate the reading suggested for Stela 9 six years ago. 

 Although the dates on Stelae 4 and 17 are recorded as Period Endings, both are 

 reasonably certain, particularly that on Stela 4, which shows quite clearly 

 "8 Zotz" followed by an Ending-sign. This can hardly be other than 

 8.18.0.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Zotz, as suggested above. 



i See Year Book No. 15, pp. 339, 340. 



» See Year Book No. 20, pp. 361. 



