EXERCISES IN DECIPHERMENT. 115 



reckoning backwards .... [an unintelligible glyph ; though, as it is very like some 

 we have just seen employed in scanning the katuns, it probably has the same 

 significance as the katun sign previously made use of to indicate a long reckoning] 

 .... [to the] 5 Lamat .... 1 Mol .... [that is] 8 days, 4 chuens .... [and] 

 2 ahaus .... [from the] 3 Ah.au, beginning a katun .... 3 Zotz .... a 20th 

 ahau [or beginning of a katun]. — 1 day, 12 chuens .... 1 ahau .... 9 katuns 

 .... [and] 2 cycles .... [the count covering] 18 calendar rounds .... [from, 

 or to — for it is uncertain if the reckoning is intended to fix the position of the 

 date 5 Lamat-1 Mol more circumstantially, or is a separate reckoning back from 

 it] the 10th score [or 5th double score] of days, [in the] 7th cycle .... [and] 7 days 

 . . . [from the] 20th [or beginning score] .... 1 Manik .... 10 Tzec [There 

 is a mistake somewhere, as the date at that point is 9 Manik-20 Zotz] .... the 

 beginning of a 7th day [or 7-day period]. — Reckoning backwards, [by] katuns .... 

 [an unintelligible glyph, though it probably indicates a period of some kind] .... 

 8 days, 5 chuens .... 10 ahaus .... 11 katuns .... [and] 10 cycles .... [to] a 

 date appearing some distance back [8 Ahau-13 Pop: the reckoning here is an 

 exact repetition, though in a different style, of the first of the preceding ones] .... 

 [from the] 5 Lamat .... 1 Mol .... [that is] 1 calendar round .... [and] 8 days 

 .... [an unintelligible glyph] .... [from the] 10 Ahau .... 13 Yaxkin .... 

 appearing some distance back. — 5 Lamat-1 Mol .... 4 Manik .... 10 Zip [I have 

 no notion what these two isolated dates can mean, unless the former is a mere 

 redundant repetition of the date from which all the reckonings have been made; but 

 the latter has no apparent relation to anything else in the text]. — 1 cycle .... 

 9 katuns .... [and] 16 ahaus .... [an unintelligible directive sign ; the reckoning 

 however, is from 10 Ahau-13 Yaxkin, beginning the 4th ahau of the 10th katun of 

 the 10th cycle — showing an abrupt and unaccountable leap forward] .... [to the] 

 20th [or beginning] score days .... beginning the 12th cycle. 



It will be seen that the 5 Lamat-1 Mol whose exact position in the chronological 

 calendar is 54 — 9 — 9 — 2 — 4x8, is the central point of the three principal reckonings 

 in the foregoing extract. That date is also indicated by other reckonings in the 

 preceding parts of the same inscription. Why it should have been given such 

 prominence, it is at present impossible to say. It could not have been the beginning 

 of any period of the annual or chronological scheme, nor of any other time arrangement 

 of which we have a knowledge. The secret of its importance is as impenetrable as 

 that of 8 Oc-3 Kayab, which occurs so frequently in other Palenque tablets. "Were 

 memorable events expected to occur at these dates % Did they mark notable astro- 

 nomical conjunctions 1 If so, there is nothing in the context to indicate it — there is 

 nothing, in fact, but the same eternal reckoning backward and forward, with no other 

 apparent purpose than just reckoning for the sake of reckoning. The most interesting 



15* 



