02 



DIRECTIVE SIGNS. 



The line between the directive, determinative and declarative signs is not a well-defined 

 or fixed one, as at best each class encroaches on the others, while the same glyph may 

 at different times perform all three functions. Yet I think a distinction can be drawn, 

 speaking generally, and that it is better to try to observe it as far as possible. The 

 number of different glyphs in these classes is very great, and that of the variants even 

 greater, but I shall give only just enough to show their general character. 



Immediately succeeding nearly all the reckonings in the inscriptions are symbols 

 whose uniform use proves them to be signs indicating from, or to, what dates the 

 computations extend. At times some of these characters occur where there is no 

 reckoning in the ordinary style, which is one of the strongest reasons for supposing 

 that a year and day count — or some other method of measuring time, notated in a 

 manner not intelligible at present — runs alongside the ahau count in many instances, 

 and that frequently the reckoning is carried on by such process alone. 



