moblet] introduction to study of maya hieroglyphs 77 



Period-ending Dates 



The Maya made use of still another method of datuig, which, 

 although not so exact as the Initial Series or the Secondary Series, 

 is, on the other hand, far more accurate than Calendar round dating. 

 In this method a date was described as being at the end of some par- 

 ticular period in the Long Count; that is, closing a certain cycle, 

 katun, or tun.^ It is clear also that in this method only the name 

 Ahau out of the 20 given in Table I can be recorded, since it alone 

 can stand at the end of periods higher than the km. This is true, 

 since: 



1. The higher periods, as the uinal, tun, katun, and cycle are exactly 

 divisible by 20 in every case (see Table VIII) , and — 



2. They are all counted from a day, Ahau, that is, 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu. 

 Consequently, all the periods of the Long Count, except the kin or 

 primary unit, end with days the name parts of which are the sign 

 Ahau. 



This method of recording dates always involves the use of at least 

 two factors, and usually three: 



L A particular period of the Long Count, as Cycle 9, or Katun 14, 

 etc. 



2. The date which ends the particular period recorded, as 8 Ahau 

 13 Ceh, or 6 Ahau 13 Muan, the closing dates respectively of Cycle 9 

 and Katun 14 of Cycle 9; and 



3. A glyph or element which means ''ending" or "is ended," or 

 which indicates at least that the period to which it is attached has 

 come to its close. 



The first two of these factors are absolutely essential to this method 

 of dating, while the third, the so-called "ending sign," is usually, 

 though not invariably, present. The order in which these factors 

 are usually found is first the date composed of the day glyph and 

 month glyph, next the "ending sign," and last the glyph of the period 

 whose closing day has just been recorded. Very rarely the period 

 glyph and its ending sign precede the date. 



The ending glyph has three distinct variants: (1) the element 

 shown as the prefix or superfix in figure 37, a-h, t, all of which are 

 forms of the same variant ; (2) the flattened grotesque head appear- 

 ing either as the prefix or superfix in i, r, u, v of the same figure; and 

 (3) the hand, which appears as the main element in the forms shown 

 in figure 37, ]-([. The two first of these never stand by themselves 

 but always modify some other sign. The first (fig. 37, a'-h, t) is always 

 attached to the sign of the period whose end is recorded either as a 



1 This method of dating does not seem to have been used with either uinal or liin period endings, probably 

 because of the comparative frequency with which any given date might occur at the end of either of these 

 two periods. 



