118 



THE ARCHAIC MAYA INSCRIPTIONS. 



and yet its significance defies our understanding. It follows immediately after most of 

 the initial dates, sometimes the whole date preceding, and again the month symbol 

 comino- after it. Six is the least number of glyphs ever found in it, but I think 

 that is the normal number, any excess being either extraneous matter or numerals 

 separated from the characters to which they belong. There is considerable variation in 

 the respective glyphs in different inscriptions, but the period type remains constant, in 

 my judgment — the substitutes in all cases being equivalents, the only real difference 

 existing in the numerals qualifying them. As good a single specimen as any is this, 

 from Palenque : — 



We know the value of a number of these signs. The first is not recognizable here, 

 but the substitutes in other places are unmistakable symbols for a day; but the 

 qualifying numerals are what puzzle, just as in this case. The next character is the 

 one employed so universally as a directive sign, but here it must stand for either a 

 number or a period, as most of its equivalents consist of a hand and the 18-day 

 character. If this replaces the 18-day part of its variants, the 10 sign under- 

 neath it would indicate it to be altogether a symbol for 180 days, and the 10 in 

 front would denote a value here of 1800 days, or exactly 5 ahaus. All the 

 glyphs in this position have a beginning sign attached to them ; so, it would appear, 

 the days designated by the first symbol reckon up to this period, whatever it may be. 

 The third and fourth glyphs are beyond our reach at present, though we can recognize 

 enough in them to know that they indicate greater numbers than the preceding 

 ones. The fifth glyph has a beginning sign in all cases, hence the two we have just 

 passed by must carry a reckoning to it. It is the 120-day sign multiplied by 9, making 

 1080 days — or just 3 ahaus. The last glyph is the 108-day sign multiplied by 10, 

 making just the same period — 1080 days, or 3 ahaus. Is this last sign merely a 

 determinative of the other, or does it supply the'lOSO days to the beginning of which 

 the reckoning was brought 1 But these are simple questions in view of the broader one 

 — what does the series mean altogether l It is evident enough that its purpose is to 

 fix the position of the date it accompanies relatively to some other method or methods 

 employed by the Mayas to compute time. But what method, and in what way % I 

 cannot master it, and therefore have dragged it forth to expose it to the concentrated 

 attack of aspiring students. 



