74 



BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull, si 



Period glyphs, from widely separated sites and of different 

 epochs, showing persistence of essential elements. 



neariy 200 years apart in point of time, the early form of the tun sign 

 in figure 36, a, closely resembles the late form shown in h of the same 

 figure, as to its essentials. Or again, although 375 years apart, the 

 early form of the katun sign in figure 36, c, is practically identical with 

 the form in figure 36, d. Instances of this kind could be nuiltiplied 

 indefinitely, but the foregoing are sufficient to demonstrate that in 

 so far as the normal-form period glyphs are concerned but little varia- 

 tion occurred from first to last. Similarly, it may be said, the head 

 variants for au}^ given period, while differing greatly in appearance at 



difl^erent epochs, re- 

 tained, nevertheless, 

 the same essential 

 characteristic through- 

 out. For example, al- 

 though the uinal sign 

 in figure 36, e, precedes 

 the one in figure 36,/, 

 by some 800 years, the 

 same essential element 

 — the large mouth curl 

 — appears in both. 

 Again, although 300 

 years separate the cycle signs shown in g and Ti, figure 36, the essen- 

 tial characteristic of the early form (fig. 36, g), the hand, is still 

 retained as the essential part of the late form Qi) . 



4. Derivation. We have seen that the full-figure glyphs probably 

 show the original life-forms from which the head variants were 

 developed. And since from (2) , above, it seems probable that the 

 head variants are older than the so-called normal forms, we may 

 reasonably infer that the full-figure glyphs represent the life-forms 

 w^hose names the Maya originally applied to their periods, and further 

 that the first signs for those periods were the heads of these life-forms. 

 This develops a contradiction in our nomenclature, for if the forms 

 which we have called head variants are the older signs for the periods 

 and are by far the most prevalent, they should have been called the 

 norrnal forms and not variants, and vice versa. However, the use of 

 the term ''normal forms" is so general that it \vould be unwise at 

 this time to attempt to introduce any change in nomenclature. 



Secondary Series 



The Initial Series method of recording dates, although absolutely 

 accurate,^ was nevertheless somewhat lengthy, since in order to 

 express a single date by means of it eight distmct glyphs were 

 required, namely: (1) The Introducing glyph; (2) the Cycle glyph; 



I Any system of counting time which describes a date in such a manner that it can not recur, satisfying 

 all the necessary conditions, for 374,400 years, must be regarded as absolutely accurate in so far as the range 

 of human life on this planet is concerned. 



