Chapter III

, can never rise above 13. Consequently the number 15 can not be recorded in G2, and this form must stand for the number 5.

[Illustration: OLDEST INITIAL SERIES AT COPAN--STELA 15]

{187}

Passing over I1 J1, I2 J2, K1 Ll, K2 L2, we reach in M1 the closing glyph of the Supplementary Series, here shown with a coefficient of 10, the head having a fleshless lower jaw. The month sign follows in N1. The coefficient is 3 and by comparing the sign itself with the month glyphs in figure 19, it will be apparent that the sign for Muan in _a'_ or _b'_ is recorded here. The Initial Series of this monument therefore is 9.17.15.0.0 5 Ahau 3 Muan.

In closing the presentation of Initial-series texts which show both head-variant numerals and period glyphs, the writer has thought best to figure the Initial Series on Stela 15 at Copan, because it is not only the oldest Initial Series at Copan, but also the oldest one known in which head-variant numerals are used[159] (see pl. 13). The introducing glyph appears at A1-B2. There follows in A3 a number too much effaced to read, but which, on the basis of all our previous experience, we are justified in calling 9. Similarly B3 must be the head variant of the cycle sign. The numeral 4 is clearly recorded in A4. Note the square irid, protruding fang, and mouth curl. Compare A4 with figure 51, _j-m_. Although the glyph in B4 is too much effaced to read, we are justified in assuming that it is the head variant of the katun sign. The glyph in A5 is the numeral 10. Note the fleshless lower jaw and other characteristics of the death's-head. Again we are justified in assuming that B5 must be the head variant of the tun sign. The glyphs A6, B6 clearly record 0 uinals. Note the clasped hand denoting zero in A6, and the curling mouth fang of the uinal period glyph in B6. This latter glyph is the full-figure form of the uinal sign[160] (a frog). Compare B6 with figure 33, which shows the uinal sign on Stela D at Copan. The stela is broken off just below the uinal sign and its coefficient; and therefore the kin coefficient and sign, the day coefficient and sign, and the month coefficient and sign, are missing. Assembling the four periods present, we have 9.4.10.0.?. Calling the missing kin coefficient 0, and reducing this number to units of the first order by means of Table XIII, we have:

A3 B3 = 9 × 144,000 = 1,296,000 A4 B4 = 4 × 7,200 = 28,800 A5 B5 = 10 × 360 = 3,600 A6 B6 = 0 × 20 = 0 0 × 1 = 0 --------- 1,328,400

Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 69 {188} (see Table XVI), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp. 139, 140, and 141, respectively) to the remainder, the terminal date reached will be 12 Ahau 8 Mol. This date is reached on the assumption that the missing kin coefficient was zero. This is a fairly safe assumption, since when the tun coefficient is either 0, 5, 10, or 15 (as here) and the uinal coefficient is 0 (as here), the kin coefficient is almost invariably zero. That is, the close of an even hotun in the Long Count is recorded.

While at Copan in May, 1912, the writer was shown a fragment of a stela which he was told was a part of this monument (Stela 15). This showed the top parts of two consecutive glyphs, the first of which very clearly had a coefficient of 12 and the one following of 8. The glyphs to which these coefficients belonged were missing, but the coincidence of the two numbers 12 (?) 8 (?) was so striking when taken into consideration with the fact that these were the day and month coefficients reached by calculation, that the writer was inclined to accept this fragment as the missing part of Stela 15 which showed the terminal date. This whole Initial Series therefore reads: 9.4.10.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Mol. It is chiefly interesting because it shows the earliest use of head-variant numerals known.

In the foregoing texts plate 12, _A_, _B_, figure 69, _A_, _B_, and figure 70, the head-variant numerals 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 18 have been given, and, excepting the forms for 2, 11, and 12, these include examples of all the head numerals.[161] No more texts specially illustrating this type of numeral will be presented, but when any of the head numerals not figured above (2, 7, 11, 12, 16, and 19) occur in future texts their presence will be noted.

Before taking up the consideration of unusual or irregular Initial Series the writer has thought best to figure one Initial Series the period glyphs and numerals of which are expressed by full-figure forms. As mentioned on page 68, such inscriptions are exceedingly rare, and such glyphs, moreover, are essentially the same as head-variant forms, since their determining characteristics are restricted to their head parts, which are exactly like the corresponding head-variant forms. This fact will greatly aid the student in identifying the full-figure glyphs in the following text.

In plate 14 is figured the Initial Series from Stela D at Copan.[162] The introducing glyph is recorded in A1. The variable central element in keeping with the other glyphs of the inscription appears here as a full figure, the lower part of which is concealed by the tun-sign.[163]

[Illustration: INITIAL SERIES ON STELA D, COPAN, SHOWING FULL-FIGURE NUMERAL GLYPHS AND PERIOD GLYPHS]

{189}

The Initial-series number itself appears in B1-B3. The cycle sign is a grotesque bird, designated by Mr. Bowditch a parrot, an identification which the hooked beak and claws strongly suggest. The essential element of the cycle sign, however, the clasped hand, appears only in the head of this bird, where the student will readily find it. Indeed, the head of this full-figure form is nothing more nor less than a head-variant cycle glyph, and as such determines the meaning of the whole figure. Compare this head with figure 25, _d-f_, or with any of the other head-variant cycle forms figured in the preceding texts. This grotesque "cycle bird," perhaps the parrot, is bound to the back of an anthropomorphic figure, which we have every reason to suppose records the cycle coefficient. An examination of this figure will show that it has not only the dots on the lower part of the cheek, but also the beard, both of which are distinctive features of the head for 9. Compare this head with figure 52, _g-l_, or with any other head variants for the numeral 9 already figured. Bearing in mind that the heads only present the determining characteristics of full-figure glyphs, the student will easily identify B1 as recording 9 cycles.

The katun and its coefficient are represented in A2, the former by a grotesque bird, an eagle according to Mr. Bowditch, and the latter by another anthropomorphic figure. The period glyph shows no essential element recognizable as such, and its identification as the katun sign therefore rests on its position, immediately following the cycle sign. The head of the full figure, which represents the katun coefficient, shows the essential element of the head for 5, the tun headdress. It has also the fleshless lower jaw of the head for 10. The combination of these two elements in one head, as we have seen, indicates the numeral 15, and A2 therefore records 15 katuns. Compare the head of this anthropomorphic figure with figure 53, _b-e_.

The tun and its coefficient are represented in B2. The former again appears as a grotesque bird, though in this case of undetermined nature. Its head, however, very clearly shows the essential element of the head-variant tun sign, the fleshless lower jaw. Compare this form with figure 29, _e-g_, and the other head-variant tun signs already illustrated. The head of the anthropomorphic figure, which denotes the tun coefficient, is just like the head of the anthropomorphic figure in the preceding glyph (A2), except that in B2 the head has no fleshless lower jaw.

Since the head in A2 with the fleshless lower jaw and the tun headdress represents the numeral 15, the head in B2 without the former but with the latter represents the numeral 5. Compare the head of the anthropomorphic figure in B2 with figure 51, _n-s_. It is clear, therefore, that 5 tuns are recorded in B2.

The uinal and its coefficient in A3 are equally clear. The period glyph here appears as a frog (Maya, _uo_), which, as we have seen {190} elsewhere, may have been chosen to represent the 20-day period because of the similarity of its name, _uo_, to the name of this period, _u_, or uinal. The head of the anthropomorphic figure which clasps the frog's foreleg is the head variant for 0. Note the clasped hand across the lower part of the face, and compare this form with figure 53, _s-w_. The whole glyph, therefore, stands for 0 uinals.

In B3 are recorded the kin and its coefficient. The period glyph here is represented by an anthropomorphic figure with a grotesque head. Its identity, as representing the kins of this number, is better established from its position in the number than from its appearance, which is somewhat irregular. The kin coefficient is just like the uinal coefficient--an anthropomorphic figure the head of which has the clasped hand as its determining characteristic. Therefore B3 records 0 kins.

The whole number expressed by B1-B3 is 9.15.5.0.0; reducing this by means of Table XIII to units of the first order, we have:

B1 = 9 × 144,000 = 1,296,000 A2 = 15 × 7,200 = 108,000 B2 = 5 × 360 = 1,800 A3 = 0 × 20 = 0 B3 = 0 × 1 = 0 --------- 1,405,800

Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 74 (see Table XVI), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp. 139, 140, and 141 respectively), to the remainder, the terminal date reached will be 10 Ahau 8 Chen.

The day part of this terminal date is recorded in A4. The day sign Ahau is represented as an anthropomorphic figure, crouching within the customary day-sign cartouche. The head of this figure is the familiar profile variant for the day sign Ahau, seen in figure 16, _h', i'_. This cartouche is clasped by the left arm of another anthropomorphic figure, the day coefficient, the head of which is the skull, denoting the numeral 10. Note the fleshless lower jaw of this head and compare it with the same element in figure 52, _m-r_. This glyph A4 records, therefore, the day reached by the Initial Series, 10 Ahau.

The position of the month glyph in this text is most unusual. Passing over B4, the first glyph of the Supplementary Series, the month glyph follows it immediately in A5. The month coefficient appears again as an anthropomorphic figure, the head of which has for its determining characteristic the forehead ornament composed of one part, denoting the numeral 8. Compare this head with the heads for 8, in figure 52, _a-f_. The month sign itself appears as a large grotesque head, the details of which present the essential elements of the month here recorded--Chen. Compare with figure 19, _o, p_.

[Illustration: INITIAL SERIES ON STELA J, COPAN]

{191}

The superfix of figure 16, _o, p_, has been retained unchanged as the superfix in A5b. The element () appears just above the eye of the grotesque head, and the element (**) on the left-hand side about where the ear lobe should be. The whole glyph unmistakably records a head variant of the month glyph Chen, and this Initial Series therefore reads 9.15.5.0.0 10 Ahau 8 Chen.

The student will note that this Initial Series records a date just 5 tuns later than the Initial Series on Stela B at Copan (pl. 7, _A_). According to the writer's opinion, therefore, Stelæ B and D marked two successive hotuns at this city.

We come now to the consideration of Initial Series which are either unusual or irregular in some respect, examples of which it is necessary to give in order to familiarize the student with all kinds of texts.

The Initial Series in plate 15, _A_,[164] is figured because of the very unusual order followed by its glyphs. The sequence in which these succeed each other is given in _B_ of that plate. The scheme followed seems to have been that of a mat pattern. The introducing glyph appears in position 0 (pl. 15, _B_), and the student will readily recognize it in the same position in _A_ of the same plate. The Initial Series number follows in 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (pl. 15, _B_). Referring to these corresponding positions in _A_, we find that 9 cycles are recorded in 1, and 13 katuns in 2. At this point the diagonal glyph- band passes under another band, emerging at 3, where the tun sign with a coefficient of 10 is recorded. Here the band turns again and, crossing backward diagonally, shows 0 uinals in 4. At this point the band passes under three diagonals running in the opposite direction, emerging at position 5, the glyph in which are recorded 0 kins.

This number 9.13.10.0.0 reduces by means of Table XIII to units of the first order, as follows:

1 = 9 × 144,000 = 1,296,000 2 = 13 × 7,200 = 93,600 3 = 10 × 360 = 3,600 4 = 0 × 20 = 0 5 = 0 × 1 = 0 --------- 1,393,200

Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 73 (see Table XVI), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp. 139, 140, and 141, respectively) to the remainder, the terminal date reached will be 7 Ahau 3 Cumhu. Referring again to plate 15, _B_, for the sequence of the glyphs in this text, it is clear that the day of this terminal date should be recorded in 6, immediately after the kins of the Initial-series number in 6. It will be seen, however, in plate 15, _A_, that {192} glyph 6 is effaced, and consequently the day is missing. Passing over 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, in _A_ and _B_ of the plate named, we reach in the lower half of 12 the closing glyph of the Supplementary Series here shown with a coefficient of 10. Compare this form with figure 65. The month glyph, therefore, should follow in the upper half of 13.[165] This glyph is very clearly the form for the month Cumhu (see fig. 19, _g', h'_), and it seems to have attached to it the bar and dot coefficient 8. A comparison of this with the month coefficient 3, determined above by calculation, shows that the two do not agree, and that the month coefficient as recorded exceeds the month coefficient determined by calculation, by 5, or in Maya notation, 1 bar. Since the Initial-series number is very clearly 9.13.10.0.0, and since this number leads to the terminal date 7 Ahau 3 Cumhu, it would seem that the ancient scribes had made an error in this text, recording 1 bar and 3 dots instead of 3 dots alone. The writer is inclined to believe, however, that the bar here is only ornamental and has no numerical value whatsoever, having been inserted solely to balance this glyph. If it had been omitted, the month sign would have had to be greatly elongated and its proportions distorted in order to fill completely the space available. According to the writer's interpretation, this Initial Series reads 9.13.10.0.0 7 Ahau 3 Cumhu.

The opposite face of the above-mentioned monument presents the same interlacing scheme, though in this case the glyph bands cross at right angles to each other instead of diagonally.

The only other inscription in the whole Maya territory, so far as the writer knows, which at all parallels the curious interlacing pattern of the glyphs on the back of Stela J at Copan, just described, is Stela H at Quirigua, illustrated in figure 71.[166] The drawing of this inscription appears in a of this figure and the key to the sequence of the glyphs in b. The introducing glyph occupies position 1 and is followed by the Initial Series in 2-6. The student will have little difficulty in identifying 2, 3, and 4 as 9 cycles, 16 katuns, and 0 tuns, respectively. The uinal and kin glyphs in 5 and 6, respectively, are so far effaced that in order to determine the values of their coefficients we shall have to rely to a large extent on other inscriptions here at Quirigua. For example, every monument at Quirigua which presents an Initial Series marks the close of some

## particular hotun in the Long Count; consequently, all the Initial Series at

Quirigua which record these Katun endings have 0 for their uinal and kin coefficients.[167] This {193} absolute uniformity in regard to the uinal and kin coefficients in all the other Initial Series at Quirigua justifies the assumption that in the text here under discussion 0 uinals and 0 kins were originally recorded in glyphs 5 and 6, respectively. Furthermore, an inspection of the coefficients of these two glyphs in figure 71, _a_, shows that both of them are of the same general size and shape as the tun coefficient in 4, which, as we have seen, is very clearly 0. It is more than probable that the uinal and kin coefficients in this text were originally 0, like the tun coefficient, and that through weathering they have been eroded down to their present shape. In figure 72, _a_, is shown the tun coefficient and beside it in _b_, the uinal or kin coefficient. The dotted parts in _b_ are the lines which have disappeared through erosion, if this coefficient was originally 0. It seems more than likely from the foregoing that the uinal and kin coefficients in this number were originally 0, and proceeding on this assumption, we have recorded in glyphs 2-6, figure 71, _a_, the number 9.16.0.0.0.

[Illustration: FIG. 71. Initial Series on Stela H, Quirigua: _a_, Mat pattern of glyph sequence; _b_, key to sequence of glyphs in a.]

Reducing this to units of the first order by means of Table XIII, we have:

5 = 9 × 144,000 = 1,296,000 6 = 16 × 7,200 = 115,200 7 = 0 × 360 = 0 8 = 0 × 20 = 0 9 = 0 × 1 = 0 --------- 1,411,200

Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 74 (see Table XVI), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp. 139, 140, and 141, respectively) to the remainder, the terminal date 2 Ahau 13 Tzec will be reached.

[Illustration: FIG. 72. The tun, uinal, and kin coefficients on Stela H, Quirigua: _a_, Tun coefficient; _b_, suggested restoration of the uinal and kin coefficients like the tun coefficient.]

In spite of some weathering, the day part of the terminal date appears in glyph 7 immediately after the kin glyph in 6. The coefficient, though somewhat eroded, appears quite clearly as 2 (2 dots separated by an ornamental crescent). The day sign itself is the profile variant for Ahau shown in figure 16, _h', i'_. The agreement of {194} the day recorded with the day determined by calculations based on the assumption that the kin and uinal coefficients are both 0, of itself tends to establish the accuracy of these assumptions. Passing over 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, we reach in 15 the closing glyph of the Supplementary Series, and in 16 probably, the month glyph. This form, although badly eroded, presents no features either in the outline of its coefficient or in the sign itself which would prevent it representing the month part 13 Tzec. The coefficient is just wide enough for three vertical divisions (2 bars and 3 dots), and the month glyph itself is divided into two parts, a superfix comprising about one-third of the glyph and the main element the remaining two-thirds. Compare this form with the sign for Tzec in figure 19, _g, h_. Although this text is too much weathered to permit absolute certainty with reference to the reading of this Initial Series, the writer nevertheless believes that in all probability it records the date given above, namely, 9.16.0.0.0 2 Ahau 13 Tzec. If this is so, Stela H is the earliest hotun-marker at Quirigua.[168]

The student will have noticed from the foregoing texts, and it has also been stated several times, that the cycle coefficient is almost invariably 9. Indeed, the only two exceptions to this rule in the inscriptions already figured are the Initial Series from the Temples of the Foliated Cross and the Sun at Palenque (pl. 12, _A_ and _B_, respectively), in which the cycle coefficient in each case was 1. As explained on page 179, footnote 1, these two Initial Series refer probably to mythological events, and the dates which they record were not contemporaneous with the erection of the temples on whose walls they are inscribed; and, finally, Cycle 9 was the first historic period of the Maya civilization, the epoch which witnessed the rise and fall of all the southern cities.

As explained on page 179, footnote 2, however, there are one or two Initial Series which can hardly be considered as referring to mythological events, even though the dates which they record fall in a cycle earlier than Cycle 9. It was stated, further, in the same place that these two Initial Series were not found inscribed on large monuments but on smaller antiquities, one of them being a small nephrite figure which has been designated the Tuxtla Statuette, and the other a nephrite plate, designated the Leyden Plate; and, finally, that the dates recorded on these two antiquities probably designated contemporaneous events in the historic period of the Maya civilization. {195}

[Illustration: FIG. 73. The Initial Series on the Tuxtla Statuette, the oldest Initial Series known (in the early part of Cycle 8).]

[Illustration: FIG. 74. The introducing glyph (?) of the Initial Series on the Tuxtla Statuette.]

These two minor antiquities have several points in common. Both are made of the same material (nephrite) and both have their glyphs incised instead of carved. More important, however, than these similarities is the fact that the Initial Series recorded on each of them has for its cycle coefficient the numeral 8; in other words, both record dates which fell in the cycle immediately preceding that of the historic period, or Cycle 9. Finally, at least one of these two Initial Series (that on the Leyden Plate), if indeed not both, records a date so near the opening of the historic period, which we may assume occurred about 9.0.0.0.0 8 Ahau 13 Ceh in round numbers, that it may be considered as belonging to the historic period, and hence constitutes the earliest historical inscription from the Maya territory. {196}

The Initial Series on the first of these minor antiquities, the Tuxtla Statuette, is shown in figure 73.[169] The student will note at the outset one very important difference between this Initial Series--if indeed it is one, which some have doubted--and those already presented. No period glyphs appear in the present example, and consequently the Initial-series number is expressed by the second method (p. 129), that is, numeration by position, as in the codices. See the discussion of Initial Series in the codices in