THE PALEXQUE INSCEIPTIOXS. 



139 



Inscribed Steps (Palace, House C). 



Initial date: 55— 3— 18— 12— 15 x 12— 8 Eb-1 5 Pop. This is one of the dates 

 likely to be disputed. Some of the face numerals are quite indistinct and others rather 

 unusual, so they may not be generally admitted to represent the numbers assigned to 

 them. But I did not rely upon the face numerals in ascertaining the date, for part of 

 them were unknown to me then. I located it by an entirely different method. As 

 the process by which I arrived at the result illustrates one of the many ways in which 

 apparently insurmountable difficulties may be overcome in this study, I will explain it 

 in detail. It will be seen that there are two dates directly under the initial one. 

 Each of these is preceded by an ahau count, which presumably denotes the period 

 between the adjacent dates. We will begin at the bottom one, where the day is a 

 6 Akbal, without any month sign. The ahau count here is : 3 — 1 — 3 X 3. I have put 

 a query in place of the ahau number because there is uncertainty about the face 

 numeral, owing to our inability to make out all of its details. It can be one only of 

 two numbers, however, 1 or 8, as they are the only faces that ever have the lobate ear 

 ornament protruding against the cheek. This uncertainty compels us to make trial of 

 botli numbers, as follows : — 



3 katuns 21,600 days. 



8 ahaus 2,8S0 „ 



3 chuens GO „ 



3 days 3 „ 



24,543 days. 



3 katuns 21,600 days. 



1 ahau 360 „ 



3 chuens 60 „ 



3 days 3 „ 



22,023 days. 



The number of days in both reckonings exceeds a calendar round, so we will 

 subtract the number of days in that period, 18,980, from each of the above sums, 

 which will leave respectively 5,563 and 3,043 days. We next take from these the 

 number of days in the greatest possible number of years, which will be 5,475 days, or 

 15 years, from the former, and 2,920 days, or 8 years, from the latter — leaving as 

 remainders 88 and 123 days, respectively. We now turn to the annual calendar and 

 select a 6 Akbal at random, for there is nothing to indicate in which month or on 

 what day of the month the 6 Akbal we are calculating from occurs. Suppose, then, 

 we select 6 Akbal-1 Zip, in the 17th year of the annual calendar. There are 41 days 

 preceding that date in the year. It must be kept in mind that we are reckoning 

 backwards ; hence we subtract 41 days from our last remainders, which will leave 

 respectively 47 and 82 days. Now, to make trial of the former, we go backwards over 15 

 years of the calendar, which will bring us to the 1st year, and counting 47 days from the 

 end of the year we arrive at 7 Ahau ; thus we have ascertained that if the face numeral 



18* 



