MAYAN CALENDAR SYSTEMS. II 



By C'YRUS Thomas 



PREFATORY NOTE 



Wlieu the paper entitled Mayau Calendar Systems, published in 

 the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnol- 

 ogy, was written, the parts of Maudslay's work" relating to the ruins 

 at Quirigua had not been received, and hence these important ruins 

 eovild not then be considered, except so far as they were referred to 

 by Goodman.* As these parts of Maudslay's work are now at hand, 

 it is my ]Durpose to saxjplement my jjrevious i^aper bj' some notes on 

 the inscriptions at Quirigua, and to discuss points omitted or but 

 lightly touched in it. One of the jioints but briefly noticed is the 

 value of the different face numerals. As was stated, the determina- 

 tion of the value of these sj'mbols necessitated a careful comparison 

 of the series of the various inscriptions in which they are tised, 

 especiallj^ the initial series. This examination has been made, and 

 the results are now given. 



INITIAL SERIES OF MAYAN INSCRIPTIONS 



The first inscription to which attention is called is that on the west 

 side of Stela F. This is shown in the i^hotograph (plate xxxix) and 

 the drawing (plate xl) in part 12 of Maudslay's Archaeology, volume 

 2, and in our plate LXXI. In regard to it Mr Goodman remarks as 

 follows : 



Initial date: .54-9-14-13-4x17 — 12 Caban-o Kayali. The period numbers here 

 are expressed by face numerals. Following this date are fifteen indeterminable 

 glyphs. They do not include the usual initial directive series, but they probably 

 serve the same or a similar i)urpose, for we can distinguish a number of period 

 sjTnbols with accompanying numerals, though unable to determine their meaning 

 here. Then comes a reckoning which reads, reversing the order of periods for 

 convenience, as I shall do in all cases when necessary: 13-9x9, from 13 Caban-5 

 Kayab. the initial date, to 6 Cimi-4 Tzec. 



The first, or initial, time series, 54-9-14-13-4-17, 12Caban 5 Kayab, 

 is, as has been explained in my preceding paper, to be interpreted as 



"Maudslay, A. p. Biologia Centrali-Americaua: Archeology, Loudou. l.S89-19(»:i. 

 ('Goodman, J. T. Archaic Maya insci-iptions (appendix to the preceding). London, IsnT. 



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