64 



BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLUGY 



named after one of the dates of the calendar. Furthermore, let hhn 

 suppose that the arrow B in the same figure points to the tooth, or 

 cog, named 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu ; and finally that from this as its original 

 position the wheel commences to revolve in the direction indicated 

 b}^ the arrow in A. 



It is clear that after one complete revolution of A, 18,980 days will 

 have passed the starting point B, and that after two revolutions 



37,960 days will have 

 passed, and after three, 

 56,940, and so on. In- 

 deed, it is only a question 

 of the number of revolu- 

 tions of A until as many as 

 1,500,000, or any number 

 of days in fact, will have 

 passed the starting point 

 B, or, in other words, will 

 have elapsed since the in- 

 itial date, 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu. 

 This is actually what hap- 

 pened according to the 

 Maya conception of time. 

 For example, let us im- 

 agine that a certain Initial 

 Series expresses in terms 

 of cycles, katuns, tuns, 

 uinals, and kins, the num- 

 ber 1 ,46 1 ,463, and that the 

 date recorded bvthisnum- 



B ^s^ - 



FiG. 23. Diagram showing section of Calendar-round wheel. 



ber of days is 7 Akbal 11 Cumhu. Referring to figure 23, it is evi- 

 dent that 77 revolutions of the cogwheel A, that is, 77 Calendar 

 Rounds, will use up 1,461,460 of the 1,461,463 days, since 77X 18,980 

 = 1,461,460. Consequently, when 77 Calendar Rounds shall have 

 passed we shall still have left 3 days (1,461,463-1,461,460 = 3), 

 which must be carried forward into the next Calendar Round. The 

 1,461,461st day will be 5 Imix 9 Cumhu, that is, the day following 4 

 Ahau 8 Cumhu (see fig. 23) ; the l,461,462d day will be Glk 10 Cumhu, 

 and the 1,461,463d day, the last of the days in our Initial Series, 

 7 Akbal 11 Cumhu, the date recorded. Examples of this method of 

 dating (by Initial Series) will be given in Chapter V, where this sub- 

 ject will be considered in greater detail. 



THE INTRODUCING GLYPH 



In the inscriptions an Initial Series is invariably preceded by the 

 so-called "introducing glyph," the Maya name for which is unknown. 



