218 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 57 



ceded the Initial-series date in point of time, bring this count up to 

 the contemporaneous time of this monument, which was 9.16.5.0.0 

 8 Ahau 8 Zotz. In view of the fact that the Secondary Series on 

 Stela J are both earHer than the Initial Series, the chronological 

 sequence of the several dates is better preserved by regarding the 

 Initial Series as being at the close of the inscription instead of at the 

 beginning, thus: 



9.14.13. 4.17 12 Caban 5 Kayab Figure 79, A, B3-A4 



0.11.13. 3 B1-B2 

 [9.15. 5. 0. 0] [10 Ahau 8 Chen] ^ 

 [1.14. 6] 2 



9.15. 6.14. 6 6 Cimi 4 Tzec Figure 79, B, B2-A3 

 18. 3.14 B1-A2 



9.16. 5. 0. 8 Ahau 8 Zotz Figure 78, A1-B9, B13 



By the above arrangement all the dates present in the text lead up 

 to 9.16.5.0.0 8 Ahau 8 Zotz as the most important date, because it 

 alone records the particular hotun-ending which Stela J marks. The 

 importance of this date over the others is further emphasized by the 

 fact that it alone appears as an Initial Series. 



The text of Stela J illustrates two points in connection with Sec- 

 ondary Series which the student will do well to bear in mind: (1) 

 The startiQg points of Secondary-series nmnbers do not always pre- 

 cede the numbers counted from them, and (2) the terminal dates and 

 starting points are not always both recorded. 

 The former point -wall be illustrated in the following example: 

 In plate 19, A, is figured the Initial Series from the west side of Stela 

 F at Quirigua.^ The introducing glyph appears in A1-B2 and is 

 followed by the Initial-series number in A3-A5. This is expressed 

 by head variants and reads as follows: 9.14.13.4.17. The terminal 

 date reached by tliis number is 12 Caban 5 Kayab, which is recorded 

 in B5-A6. The student wn'll readily identify the numerals as above 

 by comparmg them with the forms in figures 51-53, and the day and 

 month signs by comparing them A\dtli figures 16, a', h', and 19, d'-f, 

 respectively. The Initial Series therefore reads 9.14.13.4.17 12 Caban 

 6 Kayab.* 



1 Bracketed dates are those which are not actually recorded but which are reached by numbers appearing 

 in the text. 



2 Although not recorded, the number 1.14.6 is the distance from the date 9.15.5.0.0 reached by the Second- 

 ary Series on one side to the starting point of the Secondary Series on the other side, that is, 9.15.C.14.6 

 6 Cimi 4 Tzec. 



s For the full text of this inscription see Maudslay, 1889-1902: ii, pis. 37, 39, 40. For convenience in 

 figuring, the lower parts of columns A and B are shown in B instead of below the upper part. The 

 numeration of the glyph-blocks, however, follows the arrangement in the original. 



* This is 0110 of tlie two InUial Series which justified the assumptions made in the previous text that 

 the date 12 Caban 5 Kayab, which was recorded there, had the Initial-series value 9.14.13.4.17, as here. 



