PREFACE 



With the great expansion of interest in American archeology during 

 the hist few years there has grown to be a corresponding need and 

 demand for primary textbooks, archeological primers so to speak, 

 which will enable the general reader, without previous knowledge of 

 the science, to understand its several branches. With this end in 

 view, the author has prepared An Introduction to the wStudy of the 

 Maya Hieroglyphs. 



The need for such a textbook in this particular field is suggested 

 by two considerations: (1) The writings of previous investigators, 

 having been designed to meet the needs of the specialist rather than 

 those of the beginner, are for the greater part too advanced and 

 technical for general comprehension; and (2) these writings are scat- 

 tered through many publications, periodicals as well as books, some 

 in foreign languages, and almost all difRcidt of access to the average 

 reader. 



To the second of these considerations, however, the writings of 

 Mr. C. P. Bowditch, of Boston, Massachusetts, offer a conspicuous 

 exception, particularly his final contribution to this subject, entitled 

 "The Numeration, Calendar Systems, and Astronomical Knowledge 

 of the Mayas," the publication of which in 1910 marked the dawn of 

 a new era in the study of the Maya hieroglyphic writing. In this 

 work Mr. Bowditch exhaustively summarizes all previous knowledge 

 of the subject, and also indicates the most promising lines for future 

 investigation. The book is a vast storehouse of heretofore scattered 

 material, now gathered together for the first time and presented to 

 the student in a readily accessible form. Indeed, so thorough is its 

 treatment, the result of many years of intensive study, that the 

 writer woidd have hesitated to bring out another work, necessarily 

 covering much of the same ground, had it not been for his belief that 

 Mr. Bowditch's book is too advanced for lay comprehension. The 

 Maya hieroglyphic writing is exceedingly intricate; its subject matter 

 is complex and its forms irregular; and in order to be understood it 

 must be presented in a very elementary way. The writer believes that 

 this primer method of treatment has not been followed in the publi- 

 cation in question and, furthermore, that the omission of specimen 

 texts, which would give the student practice in deciphering the glyphs, 

 renders it too technical for use by the beginner. 



VII 



