THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION 103 
Mayan Numbers. We will now see how the record 
of the days is written down in actual symbols. Mayan 
numbers are most commonly represented by bars and 
dots, the bars counting five and the dots one. ‘The no- 
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Fig. 39. Bar and Dot Numerals of the Mayas. 
tation is based for the most part upon twenties rather 
than upon tens and each digit, if this term can be applied 
to figures that run from 0 to 19, may consist of several 
bars and dots arranged in a group. Ascending values 
may be expressed by position, one above the other, or by 
so-called period glyphs which stand beside each group of 
bars and dots and represent the multiplier. 
In our decimal system the number 347,981, for in- 
stance, is really:— 
3 x 100000 
4x 10000 
fx (1000 
9x 100 
8 x 10 
i ea 1 
When written out in a horizontal line each ‘‘position’’ 
has a value ten times that of the “‘position’’ to the right 
of it. It is understood that a digit which stands in a 
**position’’ is to be multiplied by 1, 10, 100, 1000, etc., as 
the case may be. 
Now in a system of notation based entirely upon twen- 
ties the ascending values are 1, 20, 400, 8000, 160,000, ete. 
Such a system was probably used by the Mayas for ordi- 
nary commercial purposes. But in the counting of days 
a slight change was made, in that the third ‘‘position’’ 
