mi: mayw CIVILIZATION 123 



numerals and the black numbers by Arabic numerals. 



Since the count in this example begins with 3 and the 

 addition is always 13, or exactly one round of numbers, 

 the resultant days always have the number 3. 



Tin 1 three pictures of gods give us an inkling into the 

 significance of this particular table of chances. All of 

 the gods carry the kan or maize sign in their hands. The 

 first god is the benevolent rain god and the third is 

 the benevolent sun god. Between them is seated the 

 malevolent goddess of floods with a serpent on her 

 head. The maize god is not shown but his hieroglyph is 

 given. This tzolkin probably deals with agriculture 

 and ma}' be an attempt to determine lucky days for 

 planting. 



Bases of Mayan Chronology. Early attempts to 

 bring about a concordance of Mayan and European 

 chronology met with widely varying results. Most of 

 these attempts were made by developing a single line of 

 evidence and some were based on assumptions that can 

 now be disproved. But no single line of evidence should 

 be deemed sufficient to decide this all important ques- 

 tion. In recent years, however, the more pretentious 

 correlations have struck very close to the mark. Mr. 

 Morley in his Inscriptions at Copan has brought a 

 wealth of dates to bear upon the problem, while the 

 writer of this handbook has been able to show an exact 

 agreement between the Mayan, Aztecan, Cakchiquel, 

 and Quiche calendars in use in the sixteenth century. 

 as well as a structural correlation between the ancient 

 and late time counts of the Mayas themselves. An 

 effort will be made to explain in a few paragraphs the 

 essential arguments. The general course of Mayan 

 history is indicated unmistakably by three principal 



