HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



after Glyph F, the position sometimes occupied by Glyph G, i.e., 

 between Glyph F and the day of the Initial Series terminal date. 



A glyph standing in the former position has already been de- 

 scribed, i.e., the "legged" variant of the kin-sign at Yaxchilan. 

 Another glyph occurring regularly in this same position in the Pal- 

 enque texts is a peculiar type of grotesque head, usually found on 



end ^P®n\- In No. 27 it has a coefficient of 15; in No. 28 no coeffi- 

 cient; in No. 29, 10; in No. 30, no coefficient, and in No. 31,5?. In four 

 of the Yaxchilan texts, Nos. 19, 20, 21, and 22, the same head occurs as 

 the central element in Glyph F, and it occurs also in other places out- 

 side of the Supplementary Series. Its meaning is unknown. It will be 

 noted at Palenque that the coefficients present, 5, 10, and 15, are just 

 the quarters of a period in a vigesimal system of numeration. 



Other unfamiliar glyphs occur in this same position, some with 

 and some without coefficients. See Nos. 5, 8, 12, 31, 45, 47, 48, 54, 

 59, 61, 63, 64, 69, 72, 77, and 80. 



In the other position mentioned above, i.e., just after Glyph F 

 and in a sense replacing Glyph G, there is a certain group of signs 

 which shows at least one common element — the coefficient 9: Nos. 9, 

 11, 18, 71, and 72. And in all of these excepting No. 18 the hand 

 element appears. In No. 11 the hand grasps a stick; in Nos. 9, 

 71, and 72, a head. In the last two cases the head is that of God C. 

 This glyph, i.e., the head of God C grasped by a hand and modified 

 by a coefficient of 9, occurs in several places on the Hieroglyphic 

 Stairway at Copan. The coefficient 7 is attached to another sign 

 three times at widely separated cities, Ixkun, Naranjo, and Copan 

 (see Nos. 5, 33, and 77). The coefficient 5 appears once, No. 12. The 

 recurrence of these two numbers, 7 and 9, attached to definite signs 

 again suggests a highly specialized meaning for them. Such glyphs 

 as these, however, occurring in but a few texts are obviously the 

 "third-line trenches" of the Supplementary Series, not to be taken 

 until the second line of defense has been carried and our positions 

 consolidated for the final assault. 



From the foregoing analysis it is evident that the Supplementary 

 Series records a lunar reckoning of some kind, since no fewer than six 

 of its eight regularly occurring glyphs at one time or another show the 

 moon symbol or an equivalent: Glyphs A, B, X, C, D, and E. But 

 what is the nature of this lunar count, what the meaning of so many 

 lunar symbols? 



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