MOELBY] INTRODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 127 



It is not necessary to press tliis point further, though it is beheved 

 the foregoing conception of time had actually been worked out by 

 the Maya. The archaic date recorded by Stela 10 at Tikal (9. 3. 6. 2. 0) 

 makes this monument one of the very oldest in the Maya territory; 

 indeed, there is only one other stela which has an earlier Initial Series, 

 Stela 3 at Tikal. In the archaic period from which tliis monument 

 dates the middle dot of the trinal superfix in the Initial-series intro- 

 ducing glyph may still have retained its numerical value, 1, but in 

 later times this middle dot lost its numerical characteristics and 

 frequently appears as a scroll itself. 



The early date of Stela 10 makes it not unUkely that this process 

 of glyph elaboration may not have set in at the time it was erected, 

 and consequently that we have in this simplified trinal element the 

 genesis of the later elaborated form; and, finally, that Al, figure 60, 

 may have meant "the present world-epoch" or something similar. 



In concluding the presentation of these three numbers the writer 

 may express the opinion that a careful study of the period glyphs in 

 figures 58-60 will lead to the foUoAying conclusions: (1) That the six 

 periods recorded in the first, the seven in the second, and the eight or 

 nine in the third, aU belong to the same series in each case; and (2) 

 that throughout the six terms of the first, the seven of the second, 

 and the eight of the third, the series in each case conforms strictly 

 to the vigesimal, system of numeration given in Table VIII. 



As mentioned on page 116 (footnote 2), in this method of recording 

 the higher numbers the kin sign may sometimes be omitted without 

 affecting the numerical value of the series wherein the omission 

 occurs. In such cases the coefficient of the kin sign is usually pre- 

 fixed to the uinal sign, the coefficient of the uinal itself standing 

 above the uinal sign. In figure 58, for example, the uinal and the 

 kin coefficients are both 0. In this case, however, the on the left 

 of the uinal sign is to be understood as belonging to the kin sign, 

 which is omitted, while the above the uinal sign is the uinal's own 

 coefficient 0. Again in figure 59, the kin sign is omitted and the kin 

 coefficient 1 is prefixed to the uinal sign, while the uinal's own coeffi- 

 cient 12 stands above the uinal sign. Similarly, the 12 uinals and 

 17 kins recorded in figure 56, d, might as well have been written as 

 in of the same figure, that is, with the kin sign omitted and its 

 coefficient 17 prefixed to the uinal sign, while the uinal's own coeffi- 

 cient 12 appears above. Or again, the 9 uinals and 18 kins recorded 

 in / also might have been written as in f, that is, with the kin sign 

 omitted and the kin coefficient 18 prefixed to the uinal sign while 

 the uinal's own coefficient 9 appears above. 



In all the above examples the coefficients of the omitted kin signs 

 are on the left of the uinal signs, while the uinal coefficients are above 

 the uinal sig^is. Sometimes, however, these positions are reversed, 



