The student will note also that the date on Stela 2 at Quen Santo is less than a year later than the date recorded by the Initial Series on the Temple lintel from Chichen Itza (see fig. [75], B). And a glance at the map in plate [1] will show, further, that Chichen Itza and Quen Santo are separated from each other by almost the entire length (north and south) of the Maya territory, the former being in the extreme northern part of Yucatan and the latter considerably to the south of the central Maya cities. The presence of two monuments so close together chronologically and yet so far apart geographically is difficult to explain. Moreover, the problem is further complicated by the fact that not one of the many cities lying between has yielded thus far a date as late as either of these.[[173]] The most logical explanation of this interesting phenomenon seems to be that while the main body of the Maya moved northward into Yucatan after the collapse of the southern cities others retreated southward into the highlands of Guatemala; that while the northern emigrants
were colonizing Yucatan the southern branch was laying the foundation of the civilization which was to flourish later under the name of the Quiche and other allied peoples; and finally, that as Chichen Itza was a later northern city, so Quen Santo was a later southern site, the two being at one period of their existence at least approximately contemporaneous, as these two Initial Series show.
It should be noted in this connection that Cycle-10 Initial Series are occasionally recorded in the Dresden Codex, though the dates in these cases are all later than those recorded on the Chichen Itza lintel and the Quen Santo stelæ. Before closing the presentation of Initial-series texts it is first necessary to discuss two very unusual and highly irregular examples of this method of dating, namely, the Initial Series from the east side of Stela C at Quirigua and the Initial Series from the tablet in the Temple of the Cross at Palenque. The dates recorded in these two texts, so far as known,[[174]] are the only ones which are not counted from the starting point of Maya chronology, the date 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu.
In figure [77], A, is shown the Initial Series on the east side of Stela C at Quirigua.[[175]] The introducing glyph appears in A1-B2, and is followed by the Initial-series number in A3-A5. The student will easily read this as 13.0.0.0.0. Reducing this number to units of the first order by means of Table [XIII], we have:
| A3 = | 13 × | 144,000 = | 1,872,000 |
| B3 = | 0 × | 7,200 = | 0 |
| A4 = | 0 × | 360 = | 0 |
| B4 = | 0 × | 20 = | 0 |
| A5 = | 0 × | 1 = | 0 |
| ———— | |||
| 1,872,000 | |||
Deducting from this number all the Calendar Rounds possible, 98[[176]] (see Table [XVI]), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp. [139], [140], and [141]), respectively, to the remainder, the terminal date reached should be, under ordinary circumstances, 4 Ahau 3 Kankin. An inspection of our text, however, will show that the terminal date recorded in B5-A6 is unmistakably 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, and not 4 Ahau 3 Kankin. The month part in A6 is unusually clear, and there can be no doubt
that it is 8 Cumhu. Compare A6 with figure [19], g', h'. If we have made no mistake in calculations, then it is evident that 13.0.0.0.0 counted forward from the starting point of Maya chronology, 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, will not reach the terminal date recorded. Further, since the count in Initial Series has never been known to be backward,[[177]] we are forced to accept one of two conclusions: Either the starting point is not 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, or there is some error in the original text. However, there is one way by means of which we can ascertain the date from which the number 13.0.0.0.0 is counted. The terminal date reached by the count is recorded very clearly as 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu. Now, if we reverse our operation and count the given number, 13.0.0.0.0, backward from the known terminal date, 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, we reach the starting point from which the count proceeds.
Fig. 77. Initial Series which proceed from a date prior to 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, the starting point of Maya chronology: A, Stela C (east side) at Quirigua; B, Temple of the Cross at Palenque.