HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



head occurs far more frequently than the normal form, which ap- 

 pears only in 12 examples out of the 80 under observation. (See 

 Nos. 7, 9, 15, 28, 29, 34, 36, 59, 62, 63, 68, and 70.) Very rarely 

 other signs replace these elements. In Nos. 61, 64, and 66 the head 

 of God C 1 is clearly substituted, and in Nos. 2^, 73, and 77, unknown 

 elements. The ending prefix or superfix (1) above, would seem to in- 

 dicate the end of some period — but what? The close proximity of 

 Glyph B to Glyph A might suggest that it is a general sign expressing 

 "here ends the lunar count," or some similar idea. An interesting 

 objective connection between the two glyphs occurs on Stela 11 at 

 Piedras Negras, where, in a constellation band the same rodent whose 

 head appears in Glyph B is seen emerging from Glyph A, the moon- 

 sign 



This animal appears as a full figure form in No. 50 (Glyph B) where 

 the mouth and feet clearly indicate that a rodent is intended. Other 

 examples of this animal, although not associated with the moon-sign, 

 occur on Zoomorph P at Quirigua, 3 and possibly on the base of Stela 4 

 at Yaxchilan. 4 Dr Spinden has suggested that this animal may be 

 the tepizquintli, one of the agouti family of large rodents, common 

 throughout the Maya area. Maya names for this animal might indi- 

 cate phonetic similarities with the name for the moon, and thus 

 establish a phonetic connection between the two. Dr Spinden believes 

 the association may have been brought about by the fact that the 

 agouti is a nocturnal animal, hence its connection with the moon. 



The most important characteristic of Glyph B remains to be 

 noted, namely, that it never has a numerical coefficient. This con- 

 spicuous lack probably indicates that it had some very generalized 

 meaning, perhaps that already suggested, which makes its interpreta- 

 tion correspondingly more difficult. However, for the same reason it 

 probably does not vitally affect the meaning of the Supplementary 

 Series, and may therefore be dismissed from present consideration 

 without further notice. 



GLYPH X 



The third character of the Supplementary Series has been named 

 the variable glyph because, unlike the other positions, no constant 



1 Schellhas (1904, pp. 20-21) points out the possible connection of this god with the north 

 star or with the constellation of Ursa Minor. See Glyph X, p. 376, for further discussion of this 

 point. 



1 See Maler, 1901, pi. 20, 1. 



5 Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. n, pi. 60, b. 



4 Spinden, 191 5, fig. 171, left side. 



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