THOMAS! EXPLANATION OF FIGURES ON PLATE XXIIL 83 



and that the one at the left represents Itzannia, whom I believe to be a dis- 

 tinct personag-e from Kukulcan. I have been unable to arrive at a satis- 

 factory conclusion in regard to the opposite or left-hand figures on the other 

 plates, except that on Plate XXIII, which I think represents the god of 

 death. 



We will now turn to the upper division of Plate XXIII and examine 

 some of the figures contained in it. Near the left margin is the figure of a 

 headless trunk marked with dotted lines and^ little circles; on it is the sym- 

 bol of Caban and the figure of a machete. It is probable that this repre- 

 sents the body of the "dead man" which Landa says was carried during 

 the festival of the Cauac years, as the dotted lines and circlets thereon cor- 

 respond with that borne by the Chac in the upper division of Plate 28 of 

 the Codex. As the festival of the Cauac years was observed during the 

 closing days of the Ix years — those with which, according to the theory I 

 have advanced, the lustres, ahaues, and cycles closed — I think it probable 

 this figure is intended to signify the close of one of these periods, possibly 

 the first, as this appears to be the idea signified in the Codex. I am fully 

 aware of the difficulty of reconciling this explanation with the fact that this 

 figure appears on the plate in the Codex which apparently refers to the 

 Muluc years and is marked by the terminal days of the Kan years. But 

 this fact will not warrant the rejection of my interpretation, as the error, if 

 there is one, relates to the order in which I have arranged the years. I 

 would also suggest that it is possible the calendars of the two works are not 

 precisely alike — one may commence the series with a diff'erent year from 

 that with which the other begins; in fact, the order of the plates in the two 

 works seems to indicate this. It can scai'cely be doubted that 25 of the 

 Codex corresponds with XX of the Manuscript, yet that in the Codex is fii'st 

 while that of the Manuscript is the last of the four (the order here being-, as 

 I have shown, the reverse of the paging). The year in which the figure 

 appears, according to the Manuscript, corresponds with Landa's statement, 

 wliile that of the Codex does not. If we decide that the series of years 

 commenced with Kan and ended with Cauac, the interpretation would still 

 agree with the Manuscript and Landa, as then we would have to suppose 

 that Plate XXIII refers chiefly to the close of the Cauac and commence- 

 ment of the Kan years. 



