MORLEY— MAYA SUPPLEMENTARY SERIES 



respectively. The numeral 4 occurs twice — Nos. 36 and 46. A great 

 number of different heads of the human type 1 have been included in 

 the second column; doubtless some of them are the heads for I, 8, 9, 

 and possibly even 12. No occurrence of the head for 5 has been noted, 

 although its distinguishing characteristic, the tun head-dress, could 

 hardly have been overlooked if present. 



Concerning the meaning of this element the writer hesitates to 

 offer a suggestion. Does it refer to some phase of the moon? Does it 

 indicate the distance of the accompanying Initial Series date from 

 the beginning of the lunar month in which it falls? Or, again, can 

 it express the distance from a definite lunar group in each case, from 

 the starting point of some series of lunar groups? These questions 

 must be left unanswered for the present. 



One more element of Glyph C remains to be described, namely, 

 the ending subfix or prefix. Since the Maya themselves omitted this 

 element about two-thirds of the time, we may conclude that it was 

 not entirely essential to the meaning of the glyph. In those cases 

 where it is omitted it probably could have been recorded without 

 changing the meaning of the sign. Both variants of the ending prefix 

 occur: the normal form and the grotesque head. 



Glyph C undoubtedly contributes a vital part to the meaning of 

 every Supplementary Series. It is rarely if ever absent, and may be 

 accepted as being as essential to the count as Glyph A. It appears 

 not unlikely that its bar-and-dot coefficient may show the position 

 of the corresponding Glyph A in a group of 5 or 6 lunar months, 

 which we may call 5- or 6-part lunar groups. Finally, for the 

 present, at least, it seems necessary to leave unexplained the function 

 of the head-variant numerals. 



GLYPH D 



With the fifth glyph of the Supplementary Series the extreme 

 regularity of occurrence as seen in the cases of the first four, breaks 

 down; in fact, Glyph D is found only in about half of the texts. In 

 spite of this irregularity of occurrence, however, it is one of the 

 oldest glyphs of the series, since it appears in the earliest example, 

 No. 1, as well as in other very early texts. 2 The writer believes its 

 occasional omission may have been due to the fact that it was not 

 essential to the meaning of the count but that it was added in a 

 supplemental way to expand or to carry farther the information 



1 For a discussion of head- variant numerals, see Goodman, 1897, pp. 41-52 ; Bowditch, 1910, pp. 

 l Z^- 1 T5< and pis. xvi-xvii; and Morley, 1915, pp. 87, 96-104. 



2 See Nos. 57, 3, 4, and 9. 



[381] 



