166 



BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BULL. 57 



10 Ahau 8 Zac. In other words, Zoomorph P and Stela I were two 

 successive time-markers, or "period stones," in the chronological 

 record afQuirigua. For this 5-tun period so conspicuously recorded 

 in the inscriptions from the older Maya cities the writer would 

 suggest the name liotun, ho meaning 5 in Maya and iun being the 

 name of the 360-day period. This word has an etymological parallel 

 in the Maya word for the 20-tun period, Icatun, which we have 

 seen may have been named directly from its numerical value, leal 

 being the word- for 20 in Maya and Jcaltun contracted to katun, 

 thus meaning 20 tuns. Although no glyph for the hotun has as yet 

 been identified,^ the writer is inclined to believe that the sign in 

 figure 67, a, h, which is frequently encountered in the texts, will be 

 found to represent this time period. The bar at. the top in both 

 a and h, figure 67, surely signifies 5; therefore the glyph itself must 

 mean " 1 tim." This form recalls the very unusual variant of the tim 

 from Palenque (see fig. 29, h). Both have the wing and the (*) o^° 

 element. * 



The next Initial Series presented (see 

 pi. 6, D) is from Stela 24 at Naranjo.^ 

 The text opens with the introducing 

 glyph, which is in the same relative posi- 

 tion as the introducing glyph m the other 

 Naranjo text (pi. 6, B) at Al. Then 

 follows regularly in B1-B3 the number 

 9.12.10.5.12, the niunbers and period 

 glyphs of which are all expressed by normal forms. By this time the 

 student should have no difficulty in recognizing these and in deter- 

 mining the number as given above. Reducing this according to 

 rule 1, page 134, the following result should be obtained: 



Bl= 9X144,000 = 1,296,000 

 A2 = 12X 7,200= 86,400 

 B2 = 10x 360= 3,600 



A3= 5X 20= 100 



B3 = 12x 1= 12 



1,386, 112 



Deducting^ from this number all the Calendar Roimds possible, 73 

 (see preliminary rule, p. 143, and Table XVI), we may reduce it to 

 572 without affecting its value in so far as the present calculations 

 are concerned (1,386,112 — 1,385,540). First applying rule 1, page 



• So far as the writer knows, the existence of a period containing 5 tuns has not been suggested heretofore. 

 The very general practice of closing inscriptions with the end of some particular 5-tun period in the Long 

 Count, as 9.18.5.0.0, or 9.18.10.0.0, or 9.18.15.0.0, or 9.19.0.0.0, for example, seems to indicate that (his period 

 was the unit used for measuring time in Maya chronological records, at least in the southern cities. Conse- 

 quently, it seems likely that there was a special glyph to express this unit. 



2 For the full text of this inscription see Maler, 1908 b: pi. 39. 



3 The student should note that from this point steps 2 (p. 139) and 3 (p. 140) liave been omitted in dis- 

 cussing each text (see p. 162, footnote 3). 



Fig. 67. Signs representiJig the hotun, 

 or 5-tun, period. 



