THE BURNER PERIOD AND BISSEXTILE COUNT. 35 



of bissextiles accrued at that point of the calendar as they did at the beginning of the 

 15th katun in the 9th cycle of the preceding great cycle. 



The frequent use of this burner glyph, in varied forms, in the Palenque inscriptions 

 would appear to show that it there serves a purpose apart from the mere recording of 

 the bissextiles, viz. : that it helps to mark, wholly or in part, the length of the periods 

 by indicating the number of bissextiles that have passed. If this be so, it must be 

 used in its 13 capacity, or multiples thereof, resulting from a complete round or rounds 

 of the annual calendar. It requires much labour to settle any of these questions 

 definitely, and I have not yet found time to work this particular one out. But, in 

 directing the notice of students to it, I would call their attention to another fact, 

 namely : the Palenque bissextiles and minor periods appear to be reckoned from a 

 different starting-point from those of Copan and Quirigua. That is, while the grand 

 cycles, cycles, katuns, and ahaus run the same, apparently, the important date 

 4 Ahau-13 Yax is never once noticed, but in its stead another date, 8 Oc-3 Kayab, 

 comes into significant prominence. All four of the principal Palenque inscriptions 

 lead up to and end with that date — not in the same position in the calendar, but in 

 different positions, as though wherever it occurred it was of signal importance. Can 

 it be that, for some reason and by some process not readily perceptible, they had 

 adopted that date as the initial point of bissextile and minor period reckoning"? No 

 better explanation of its undue prominence suggests itself to me ; but I must leave the 

 determination of the question to others, or until I have time to get about it myself. 



5* 



