44 



THE AECHAIC MAYA INSCRIPTIONS. 



FACE SIGN FOR 4. 



The distinguishing traits in this sign are the ball enclosed in a circle at the top of 

 the head and the angular irid in the upper left-hand corner of the eye. I should 

 include the tusk or tongue protruding from the back of the mouth — which forcibly 

 suggests the interlocked 4-sign — but that it appears in the 6-face as well. The 

 forehead and ear ornaments are not constant, and it is difficult to determine what any 

 of them was intended to represent. 



FACE SIGN FOR 5. 



This sign is the most readily recognizable of any in the series. It always bears 

 conspicuously on top the bold character that constitutes the principal feature in the 

 ahau, katun, and great cycle symbols — a conventionalized form of the closed hand, no 

 doubt. It is substantially the same head as that of one of the grotesque personages of 

 the codices whose symbols invariably represent 5. 



