INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MIDDLE PERIOD. 197 
seems probable that Glyphs 1, 24, 23, 16, and 17 declare the Period Ending 
date ‘1 Ahau (8 Zotz) end of Tun 12 of Katun 12,” the corresponding Initial 
Series of which is 9.12.12.0.0 1 Ahau 8 Zotz, as given by Bowditch. 
Let us turn next to the consideration of the inscription on the north 
side, the first two glyph-blocks of which, A1, B1, figure 34, as will presently 
appear, probably declare the date 10.0.0.0.0 7 Ahau 18 Zip, which must have 
been of a prophetic nature at the time 
Stela J was erected. The upper half of 
Al, figure 34, shows two coefficients of 0, 
attached to two grotesque heads; and 
although the latter are to some extent ef- 
faced, sufficient remains in each case to 
show that they are the head-variant 
forms of the uinal and kin-signs respec- 1% 34— Top ee ere ‘a inscription on 
north side of Stela J. 
tively. 
The lower left-hand corner of a1 shows a grotesque head characterized 
by a fleshless lower jaw, 7. ¢., the tun-sign. Maudslay (1889-1902, vol. 1, 
plate 69, glyph 41) shows its coefficient as 10; and a careful examination of 
the original established the correctness of this reading. 
The lower right-hand corner of a1 is less clear. The head there por- 
trayed is surmounted by the familiar superfix of the katun-sign, and as the 
head itself resembles other known head variants for the katun, this identi- 
fication is doubtless correct. 
The best reading of the katun coefficient is 6, the elements both above 
and below the central dot being not only smaller but decorated as well. 
The whole glyph-block, therefore, records 6.10.0.0. 
The next glyph-block, Bi, begins with an ending-sign which is followed 
by a grotesque head, apparently a period-glyph, surmounted by the coeffi- 
cient 10. The lower half records a Calendar Round date 7 Ahau 13 Zip. 
It would seem, therefore, that we have recorded here a distance num- 
ber of 6.10.0.0, which, if counted forward from some unexpressed date, will 
reach the date 7 Ahau 13 Zip. Furthermore, the upper half of Bi declares 
that this latter date was at the end of some period whose coefficient is Io. 
This looks as though it might be the cycle-sign, having a clasped hand on the 
lower jaw, but even although the details of the glyph are not sufficient to 
establish its identity beyond doubt, it can hardly be other than a Tun Io, a 
Katun 10, or a Cycle Io. 
Referring to Goodman’s tables, it will be found that no Tun ro in Cycle 
9, nor Katun 1oof Cycle 9, nor Cycle 1o itself, ended on a day 7 Ahau 13 Zip, 
the nearest to this date being Cycle 10, which ended on the day 7 Ahau 18 
Zip—1io.0.0.0.0 7 Ahau 18 Zip—a difference of 5 (7. ¢., 1 bar) in the month 
coefficient. 
If this last is the date intended here, an excellent reason, moreover, 
exists for the record of 6.10.0.0 in Al, namely, that this number exactly 

