394 
Maya numerals and hieroglyphs. It 
seems that notations of numbers did 
not yet exist, nor names and symbols 
applying to such a chronological prob- 
lem. Ultimately they wrote with bar- 
and-dot numerals in place values the 
date which we transcribe as 6—-12-19- 
4-8 and reduce to 957328 in Arabic 
figures. It was completed by the day 
name and month place which we 
write 12 Lamat 1 Muan. My Cor- 
relation A converts this Maya Day 
957328 by the addition of 489384 into 
Julian Day 1446712. 
The crucial eclipse was a starting 
point or zero and out of that count 
came a simple numerical relationship 
which conceals a thoughtful reduction 
out of a hurly burly of events. It did 
not lead the Maya to our materialistic 
concept of the universe. Perhaps our 
celestial bodies were celestial souls to 
the Maya, spiritual powers not given 
to capricious acts. Perhaps to them 
natural law was supreme intelligence 
to which gods most of all were bound. 
The Maya deified the sun, moon, and 
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
planets, it may be the stars as well. 
Also they deified their priests and 
rulers, if not during life, then after 
death. 
That first ephemeris was probably 
made of strung beads. If the shamans 
added a bead a day, using colored 
ones when occasion warranted, and if 
they kept the record open with con- 
tinuity unimpaired, then order would 
be discernible. We have the Dresden 
Codex to help us with its full calendar 
of eclipses while the numbers of its 
preamble can be used to reach pre- 
cisely that first eclipse. 12 Lamat is 
one of many eligible days for eclipses 
which cluster about three foci. A 
single pattern of intervals in the table 
I now give may be applied to any 
eligible date with expectations of 
eclipse recurrence. Adding 7280 days 
to a solar eclipse probably gets a lunar 
one, then 4680 days more carries for- 
ward to a second solar phenomenon. 
This is 11960 days after the first, com- 
pleting the ancient eclipse cycle of the 
Maya. 
TasiE 1.—Derivation of tzolkin, tun, and zodiacal year by eclipse correlation 
O=MD 957328=JD 1446712, the solar eclipse on 12 Lamat 1 Muan. Starred items were 
visible to the Maya. Rule applies to many series. 
Solar eclipse +7280 days 
“4 0 
11960 
*77 23920 
35880 
47840 
* 59800 
TATOO 
4680= 9 x 520=13 x 360 
7280=14 x 520=20 x 364 
11960=23 x 520= 5 x 2392 
The point I emphasize is that these 
intervals touch the very heart of Maya 
mathematics. The tzolkin, peculiar 
cycle of 260 day names; the tun of 
18 20360 days, incongruous place 
value in a system otherwise purely 
vigesimal; even the 364-day timetable 
which I have recommended to the 
modern businessman, appear as fac- 
tors. Of these, the,tzolkin’.is most-im- 
portant. Itis half of 520 days, which 
in turn equals three .eclipse seasons 
+4680 day 
Lunar eclipse 
+ 7/280 
* 19240 
31200 
43160 
* 55120 
* 67080 
* 79040 
(18 tzolkin=13 tun) 
(28 tzolkin=20 zodiacal years) 
(46 tzolkin=1 eclipse cycle) 
with a minute error. Now the eclipse 
season, or draconic half year, concerns 
placing of lunar nodes indispensable 
to eclipse calculations, and its discov- 
ery required a touch of genius. 
Invention of the Maya Time Machine 
In 1930 Ludendorff, writing in 
Germany but using my Correlation 
A, explained the tzolkin as an eclipse 
derivation with 1 Imix as a focus of 
eclipses before the establishment of 
