140 THE AECHAIC MATA INSCRIPTIONS. 



in the ahau count be 8, the day numeral in the preceding date must be 7. The trial 

 with the other number is still to be made. Deducting 41 from 128 and there remain 

 82 days. Passing backwards over 8 years we come to the 8th year, and counting 82 days 

 from the end we reach 5 Ahau: that is, if the face numeral in the ahau count be 1 

 the day number of the preceding date must be 5. Now let us inspect the preceding 

 date itself. It is almost obliterated. The only things clearly discernible are the 

 outlines of the day and month signs, the former preceded by an unusual character, the 

 latter by an indistinguishable face numeral. But for all this barrenness we can reach 

 several conclusions respecting it pretty definitely. The day, as proved by the reckoning, 

 must be Ahau ; hence the face numeral of the month must be 3, 8, 13 or 18 ; and, as 

 its outlines are not those of the unmistakable 13 face, one element of uncertainty is 

 eliminated ; but we can go no farther in that direction. The month, however, is 

 unquestionably Mol, as the symbol for that month is the only one that ever occurs as 

 a simple disc, without accessories above, below or on either side. All this is not much, 

 but it is something ; so we will proceed with our calculation, confident that we have a 

 7 or 5 ahau, falling on the 3rd, 8th or 18th of Mol, to reckon from. The ahau count 

 preceding this date fortunately is unmistakable. It is 12 — 9x8, or 4,508 days. 

 From this we take 11 years, or 4,015 days, leaving a remainder of 493 days. We 

 could have taken 12 years, but knowing that we shall have to deduct the 143 days in 

 the year preceding the first place in Mol on which an Ahau date could fall, which in 

 the end would have reduced the years to 11 anyhow, we chose to deduct only that 

 number at the start. Subtracting 143 from 493, we have 350 remaining days. We will 

 first make trial with 7 Ahau-3 Mol, which we shall find in the 20th year of the annual 

 calendar. Going back 11 years brings us to the 8th year, and counting 350 days from 

 the end of that year we arrive at 10 Eb-15 Pop. Turning now to examine the initial 

 date, to which we have reckoned back, we feel positive, notwithstanding the defacement 

 of the sign, that the month is Pop, as the distinguishable parts of the glyph have the 

 characteristics of the symbol for that month and of the symbol for that month only. 

 The face numeral accompanying is strange, however. We have never encountered it 

 before; but it is to be recollected that 15 has been lacking in the series of face 

 numerals. If this date prove to be 15 Pop, we. shall have supplied the deficiency. 

 The day sign is not readily recognizable, but Eb is one of the three days ever 

 symbolized by a human face, and therefore this may reasonably enough be Eb. But 

 the accompanying face numeral is not 10 ; the lobate ornament on the cheek denotes 

 it to be either 1 or 8 — remember we have not yet learned to distinguish it by the 

 forehead mark. We must go back and make another trial. But first let us reckon 

 our gain by this one, failure though it be. We are confident this month is Pop and 

 that the other is Mol. That being the case, the dates can be only 15 Pop and 3 Mol, 

 for if the Ahau in question fell upon any of its succeeding positions in the month of 

 Mol the reckoning would not reach back to Pop. Hence, we have made two 



