82 



THE ARCHAIC MAYA INSCRIPTIONS. 



ELEMENTS OF THE 52-YEAR SIGN. 



In this symbol there is a departure from the reckoning by a 5-day period. In 

 its place we have a 20-day period, represented by the two 10-day signs. The subfix 

 here is 73. What the nice distinction is between the sign representing that number 

 and that representing 72 it is impossible to tell, except when both are expressed by 

 the bouquet-like characters, owing to the worn state of the inscription everywhere that 

 the other 73 sign occurs. The product of 20 multiplied by 73 — 1460 — is multiplied 

 by the 13 denoted by the character in the superfix, making 18,980, the number of days 

 in 52 years, or a calendar round. I know of no face sign for this period. 



ELEMENTS OF THE CYCLE SIGNS. 



Singularly enough, the same departure from a 5-day reckoning is found in the cycle 

 symbols. Instead of simply raising the katun sign to twenty times its value, as might 

 be expected, the value of the katun — 7,200 — is transferred to the subfix, while the 

 20-day symbol constitutes the principal feature of the glyph. 



It is the same with the face symbol. The cycle face is a 20 sign. In the glyph 

 here given the subfix is so conventionalized that all its details are lost, but in other 

 places the striation is perfectly distinct, showing that, as in the other symbol, the 

 calculation is : 20x7,200 = 144,000. 



