MOELET] INTRODUCTION TO STUDY OF MAYA HIEROGLYPHS 



241 



is clear, therefore, that this text records the fact that 3.2.0 has been 

 counted forward from the date 4 Ahau 13 Yax and the date 6 Ahau 

 18 Zac has been reached, but there is nothing given by means of 

 which the position of either of these dates in the Long Count can be 

 determined; consequently either of these dates wdll be found recur- 

 ring like any other Calendar-round date, at intervals of every 52 

 years. In such cases the first assumption to be made is that one of 

 the dates recorded the close of a hotun, or at least of a tun, in Cycle 

 9 of the Long Count. The reasons for this assumption are quite ob- 



oooo 



oa^^(jOO^ 



A B 



Fig. 83. Calendar-round dates: A, Altar M, Quirigua; B, Altar Z, Copan. 



vious. The overwhelming majority of Maya dates fall in Cycle 9, and 

 nearly all inscriptions have at least one date which closed some hotun 

 or tun of that cycle. Referring to Goodman's Tables, in which the 

 tun endings of Cycle 9 are given, the student will find that the date 

 4 Ahau 13 Yax occurred as a tun ending in Cycle 9, at 9.15.0.0.0 

 4 Ahau 13 Yax, in which position it closed not only a hotun but also 

 a katun. Hence, it is probable, although the fact is not actually 

 recorded, that the Initial-series value of the date 4 Ahau 13 Yax in 

 this text is 9.15.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax, and if this is so the Initial-series 

 value of the date 6 Ahau 18 Zac will be: 



9.15.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax 



3.2.0 

 9.15.3.2.0 6 Ahau 18 Zac 

 43508°— Bull. 57—15 16 



