22 



THE ARCHAIC MAYA INSCRIPTIONS. 



THE CHUEN. 



I call this period " chuen " because it is commonly designated by the character 

 Landa gives as the sign for that day. It is coequal with the month, embracing twenty 

 days; but these days have uo names or numbers, and the period has no specific place 

 in the year. It is simply an abstract period. It occurs in nearly all the dates and 

 time reckonings of the inscriptions, the order usually being : cycle, katun, ahau, chuen, 

 day ; but occasionally this order is reversed. In initial dates it occupies a place by 

 itself, and is nearly always represented by the bird-animal head with serrate teeth and 

 upturned convolution at the base of the jaws. In the body of the text it is usually 

 designated by the chuen sign, with a curve and varying number of dots or smaller 

 curves underneath. The number of chuens implied is ordinarily placed above the 

 symbol, the numeral at the left side indicating the fractional number of days; but in a 

 few instances, where the sculptor appears to have been crowded for space to properly 

 inscribe the respective numbers, this order is reversed. Eighteen chuens constitute 

 an ahau. They are numerated: 18, 1, 2, 3, etc., up to 17; the constituent days, 

 20, 1, 2, 3, etc., up to 19. 



