MOELET] INTRODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 75 



(3) the Katun glyph; (4) the Tun glyph; (5) the Uinal glyph; (6) 

 the Kui glyph; (7) the Day glyph; (8) the Month glyph. Moreover, 

 its use in any inscription which contained more than one date would 

 have resulted in needless repetition. For example, if all the dates 

 on any given monument were expressed by Initial Series, every one 

 would show the long distance (more than 3,000 years) which sepa- 

 rated it from the common starting point of Maya chronology. It 

 would be just like writing the legal holidays of the current year in 

 this way: February 22d, 1913, A. D., May 30th, 1913, A. D., July 4th, 

 1913, A. D., December 25th, 1913, A. D. ; or in other words, repeating 

 in each case the designation of time elapsed from the starting point 

 of Christian chronology. 



The Maya obviated this needless repetition by recording but one 

 Initial Series date on a monument; ^ and from this date as a new point 

 of departure they proceeded to reckon the numl^er of days to the 

 next date recorded; from this date the numbers of days to the next; 

 and so on throughout that inscription. By this device the position 

 of any date in the Long Count (its Initial Series) could be calculated, 

 since it could be referred back to a date, the Initial Series of which 

 was expressed. For example, the terminal day of the Initial Series 

 given on page 64 is 7 Akbal 11 Cumhu, and its position in the Long 

 Count is fixed by the statement in cycles, katuns, tuns, etc., that 

 1,461,463 days separate it from the starting point, 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu. 

 Now let us suppose we have the date 10 Cimi 14 Cumhu, which is 

 recorded as being 3 days later than the day 7 Akbal 11 Cumhu,^ the 

 Initial Series of which is known to be 1,461,463. It is clear that the 

 Initial Series corresponding to the date 10 Cimf 14 Cumhu, although 

 not actually expressed, will also be known since it must equal 

 1,461,463 (Initial Series of 7 Akbal 11 Cumhu) + 3 (distance from 

 7 Akbal 11 Cumhu to 10 Cimi 14 Cumhu) , or 1,461,466. Therefore it 

 matters not whether we count three days forward from 7 Akbal 11 

 Cumhu, or whether we count 1,461,466 days forward from the start- 

 ing point of Maya clu-onology, 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu since in each case the 

 date reached will be the same, namely, 10 Cimi 14 Cumhu. The 

 former method, however, was used more frequently than all of the 

 other methods of recording dates combined, since it insured all the 

 accuracy of an Initial Series without repeating for each date so great 

 a number of days. 



Thus having one date on a monument the Initial Series of which 

 was expressed, it was possible by referring subsequent dates to it, or 

 to other dates which in turn had been referred to it, to fix accurately 



1 There are a very few monuments which have two Initial Series instead of one. So'iar as the writer 

 knows, only six monuments in the entire Maya area present this feature, namely, Stelae F, D, E, and A 

 at Quirigua, Stela 17 at Tikal, and Stela 11 at Yaxchilan. 



2 Refer to p. G4 and figure 23. It will be noted that the third tooth (i. e. day) after the one named 7 Akbal 

 11 Cumhu is 10 Cimi 14 Cumhu. 



