[13] Examples of this type of burial have been found at Chichen Itza and Mayapan in Yucatan. At the former site Mr. E. H. Thompson found in the center of a large pyramid a stone-lined shaft running from the summit into the ground. This was filled with burials and funeral objects—pearls, coral, and jade, which from their precious nature indicated the remains of important personages. At Mayapan, burials were found in a shaft of similar construction and location in one of the pyramids.
[14] Landa, 1864: p. 137.
[15] As the result of a trip to the Maya field in the winter of 1914, the writer made important discoveries in the chronology of Tikal, Naranjo, Piedras Negras, Altar de Sacrificios, Quirigua, and Seibal. The occupancy of Tikal and Seibal was found to have extended to 10.2.0.0.0; of Piedras Negras to 9.18.5.0.0; of Naranjo to 9.19.10.0.0; and of Altar de Sacrificios to 9.14.0.0.0. (This new material is not embodied in pl. [2].)
[16] As will be explained in chapter V, the writer has suggested the name hotun for the 5 tun, or 1,800 day, period.
[17] Succession in the Aztec royal house was not determined by primogeniture, though the supreme office, the tlahtouani, as well as the other high offices of state, was hereditary in one family. On the death of the tlahtouani the electors (four in number) seem to have selected his successor from among his brothers, or, these failing, from among his nephews. Except as limiting the succession to one family, primogeniture does not seem to have obtained; for example, Moctezoma (Montezuma) was chosen tlahtouani over the heads of several of his older brothers because he was thought to have the best qualifications for that exalted office. The situation may be summarized by the statement that while the supreme ruler among the Aztec had to be of the "blood royal," his selection was determined by personal merit rather than by primogeniture.
[18] There can be no doubt that Förstemann has identified the sign for the planet Venus and possibly a few others. (See Förstemann, 1906: p. 116.)
[19] Brasseur de Bourbourg, the "discoverer" of Landa's manuscript, added several signs of his own invention to the original Landa alphabet. See his introduction to the Codex Troano published by the French Government. Leon de Rosny published an alphabet of 29 letters with numerous variants. Later Dr. F. Le Plongeon defined 23 letters with variants and made elaborate interpretations of the texts with this "alphabet" as his key. Another alphabet was that proposed by Dr. Hilborne T. Cresson, which included syllables as well as letters, and with which its originator also essayed to read the texts. Scarce worthy of mention are the alphabet and volume of interlinear translations from both the inscriptions and the codices published by F. A. de la Rochefoucauld. This is very fantastic and utterly without value unless, as Doctor Brinton says, it be taken "as a warning against the intellectual aberrations to which students of these ancient mysteries seem peculiarly prone." The late Dr. Cyrus Thomas, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, was the last of those who endeavored to interpret the Maya texts by means of alphabets; though he was perhaps the best of them all, much of his work in this particular respect will not stand.
[20] Thus the whole rebus in figure [14] reads: "Eye bee leaf ant rose can well bear awl four ewe." These words may be replaced by their homophones as follows: "I believe Aunt Rose can well bear all for you."
Rebus writing depends on the principle of homophones; that is, words or characters which sound alike but have different meanings.
[21] The period of the synodical revolution of Venus as computed to-day is 583.920 days.