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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1119 



California and Nevada have greatly strengthened 

 this "pulsatory" hypothesis, as it is called. If 

 the hypothesis is well grounded, the course of his- 

 tory in all parts of the world must have been pro- 

 foundly modified by repeated climatic changes 

 which have been powerful factors in the fall of 

 civilization at certain times and its rapid develop- 

 ment at others. Thus the correct interpretation 

 of the general course of Maya history, and espe- 

 cially the establishment of an unimpeachable 

 chronology, assumes added importance. It will 

 furnish one of the most critical tests of an hypoth- 

 esis which, if true, will demand a widespread re- 

 modeling of the established ideas as to the condi- 

 tions necessary to the advancement of civilization. 



The Sotun as the Principal Chronological Unit of 

 the Old Maya Empire: Sylvanus Geiswold 



MOELEY. 



Nine years ago attention was attracted by a 

 certain periodicity in the occurrence of the dated 

 monuments at Quirigua, eastern Guatemala, a con- 

 dition previously noted but not at that time defi- 

 nitely established. 



The Quirigua monuments were found to follow 

 each other at intervals of 1,800 days, and, although 

 the sequence was then incomplete, subsequent stud- 

 ies at the ruins in 1910-14 have resulted in filling 

 all the lacunae, and in finding a corresponding 

 monument for every 1,800-day period during 

 which the city seems to have been occupied. 



Later investigations, particularly during the 

 last two years, at all the principal Old Empire 

 sites, amply established the former prevalence of 

 this same periodicity in the occurrence of the 

 dated monuments, and furthermore have resulted 

 in the identification of the glyph for this 1,800- 

 day period for which the name hotun is here sug- 

 gested, as well as that for the 3,600-day period 

 for which the name lahuntun is suggested. In- 

 deed the practise seems to have been so universal 

 during the Old Empire that it is possible to for- 

 mulate the following general thesis based upon it: 



The stela type of monument seems to have been 

 used primarily to record the passage of time, 

 stelae being erected at intervals of every hotun 

 (1,800 days), or even multiples thereof, as la- 

 huntuns (3,600 days), or hatuns (7,200 days), 

 throughout the Old Empire, approximately A.D. 

 200 to A.D. 600. 



The paper offers this thesis to Maya archeolo- 

 gists, and presents coineidently a partial summary 

 of the evidence on which it is based, illustrated 

 Tifith photographs, maps and diagrams. 



The Chilam Balam Books and the Possibility of 



their Translation: Alfred M. Tozzee. 



Owing to the large amount of original manu- 

 script material made available during the last two 

 years by Professor William E. Gates, a great op- 

 portunity is offered to Maya students for the 

 study and translation of the Chilam Balam books. 

 With photographic copies of the Motul and San 

 Francisco dictionaries, and copies of all the known 

 original Chilam Balam books, one has for the first 

 time the material at his disposal. 



As Brinton remarked many years ago, ' ' The 

 task of deciphering these manuscripts is by no 

 means a light one. ' ' The importance of the re- 

 sults which may be e.xpeeted should serve as a 

 powerful incentive to all Maya students. The 

 task is not an impossible one. There are cer- 

 tainly some passages which will never be trans- 

 lated. The books, as they now appear, are copies 

 made chiefiy in the eighteenth century or earlier 

 works going back in some cases probably to the 

 sixteenth century. The text as a consequence has 

 suffered badly. The copyist shows in many cases 

 an ignorance of Maya, and, in some instances, a 

 surprising ignorance of 'Spanish. In several cases 

 Latin words appear in an almost unrecognizable 

 form. The Maya is most arbitrarily separated into 

 several different ways on the same page. The 

 punctuation is also never consistent. 



The few passages already translated show the 

 great importance attached to the manuscripts. 

 The chronological parts have already served to 

 malie possible the coordination of Maya and 

 Christian chronology. These portions are, of 

 course, of primary importance. The parts deal- 

 ing with prophecies and the good and bad days of 

 a year are other parts worthy of study. There is 

 much that is almost entirely Spanish in character, 

 with little reflection of the native element. The 

 medical parts figure largely in many of the manu- 

 scripts. In most cases the directions for curing 

 various kinds of illness are entirely Spanish in 

 origin. The Christian teaching with the "Doo- 

 trinas, ' ' the astrological information, and discus- 

 sion of the Zodiac, as in the Kaua manuscript, 

 have little of interest for students of precolum- 

 bian history as compared with those portions deal- 

 ing with the ancient chronology and the history of 

 the wanderings of the Maya. 



In addition to the translations, a careful colla- 

 tion of the material from all the manuscripts is 

 absolutely necessary. The reconciliation of the 

 various statements regarding similar events in the 



