THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION 115 
of the Aztecan writing are absent from the few Mayan 
documents. 
Codices. Only three ancient Mayan books or cod- 
ices are known to exist and these are more or less incom- 
plete. They have all been reproduced in facsimile and 
are known by the following names: Dresden Codex, Pe- 
resianus Codex, Tro-Cortesianus Codex. 
These illuminated manuscripts are written on both 
sides of long strips of maguey paper, folded like Japanese 
screens. ‘The paper was given a smooth surface by a 
coating of fine lime and the drawings were made in black 
and in various colors. From the early accounts we know 
that books were also written on prepared deerskin and 
upon bark. Concerning their subject matter we are told 
that the Mayas had many books upon civil and religious 
history, and upon rites, magic, and medicine. The three 
books named above have been carefully studied. They 
treat principally of the calendar and of associated relig- 
ious ceremonies. 
A page of the Dresden Codex containing some inter- 
esting calculations is reproduced herewith. The numbers 
with the digits one above the other are transcribed in two 
diagrams. In the upper diagram the bar and dot numer- 
als are simply put over into Arabic numerals and the 
Mayan system of periods or positions is retained. In 
the lower diagram these numbers are reduced entirely to 
the Arabic system. The columns are lettered at the top, 
the hieroglyphs are counted off in sixteen rows at the left 
and the separate groupings of numbers are shown in five 
sections at the right. | 
Among the hieroglyphs the Venus sign is especially 
prominent. At the base of B is given a number in five 
periods that, counted from the normal beginning day 4 
Ahau 8 Cumhu, leads to 1 Ahau 18 Kayab. This day is 
actually recorded immediately under the number and 
