MOBLET] INTRODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 229 



the southern Maya, tliougli the monument upon which it is recorded 

 probably dates from an epoch at least 200 years later. 



In a few cases Cycle- 10 ending dates have been found. Some of 

 these are surely "contemporaneous," that is, the monuments upon 

 which they appear really date from Cycle 10, while others are as 

 surely "prophetic," that is, the monuments upon which they are 

 found antedate Cycle 10. Examples of both kinds follow. 



In plate 22, E, is figured a Period-ending date from Stela 8 at Copan.^ 

 Glyphs 1 and 2 declare the date 7 Ahau 18 ?, the month sign in glyph 

 2 bemg effaced. In glyph 3 is recorded Cycle 10, the cycle sign being 

 expressed by its corresponding head variant. Note the clasped hand, 

 the essential characteristic of the cycle head. Above this appears the 

 same endingsign as that shown in figure 37, a-h, and it would seem prob- 

 able, therefore, that these tlu-ee glyphs record the end of Cycle 10. 

 Let us test this by changuig the Period-ending date in glyph 3 into 

 its corresponding Initial-series number and then solving this for the 

 resultmg terminal date. Since the end of a cycle is here indicated, 

 the katun, tun, uinal, and kin coefficients must be and the Initial- 

 series number will be, therefore, 10.0.0.0.0. Reducing tliis to units 

 of the first order and appljnng the rules indicated in such cases, the 

 resulting terminal date will be found to be 7 Ahau 18 Zip. But this 

 agrees exactly with the date recorded in glyphs 1 and 2 so far as the 

 latter go, and since the two agree so far as they go, we may conclude 

 that glyphs 1-3 in plate 22, E, express "Cycle 10 ending on the date 

 7 Ahau 18 Zip." Although this is a comparatively late date for 

 Copan, the w^riter is inclined to believe that it was "contemporane- 

 ous" rather than "prophetic." 



The same can not be said, however, for the Cycle-10 ending date 

 on Zoomorph G at Quirigua (see pi. 22, F). Indeed, this date, as will 

 appear below, is almost surely "prophetic" in character. Glyphs 1 

 and 2 record the date 7 Ahau 18 Zip (compare the month form in glyph 

 2 with fig. 19, d) and glyph 3 shows very clearly "the end of Cycle 

 10." Compare the ending prefix in glyph 4 with the same element 

 in fig. 37, a-li. Hence we have recorded here the fact that "Cycle 

 10 ended on the date 7 Ahau 18 Zip," a fact proved also by calcula- 

 tion in connection with the preceding example. Does this date rep- 

 resent, therefore, the contemporaneous time of Zoomorph G, the time 

 at which it was erected, or at least dedicated? Before answering 

 this question, let us consider the rest of the text from wliich this 

 example is taken. The Initial Series on Zoomorph G at Quirigua has 

 already been shown in figure 70, and, according to page 187, it records 

 the date 9.17.15.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Muan. On the grounds of antecedent 

 probabihty, we are justified in assmning at the outset that this date 



> See Maudslay, 1889-1902: I, pi. 109, glyphs CI Dl, A2. 



