274 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 28 



meiit with both the Mexican and the Maya nomenclatures of the 

 twenty day signs. From this analysis I obtained the important fact 

 that the double meanings which frequently occur in the Zapotec 

 names of the day signs explain the apparently fundamental differ- 

 ence between the Mexican and the Maya names of the same sign. 

 From this fact it is fairly safe to conclude that the Zapotecs or their 

 kindred were the medium through which the knowledge of this calen- 

 dar passed from the Mexicans to the Mayas, or vice versa, unless we 

 ought to accept the theory that the Zapotecs or their kindred were 

 those among whom this calendar was invented and by whom the 

 knowledge of it was originally communicated to both the Mexicans 

 and the Mayas. 



