[123] Since nothing but Initial-series texts will be presented in the plates and figures immediately following, a fact which the student will readily detect by the presence of the introducing glyph at the head of each text, it is unnecessary to repeat for each new text step 2 (p. [135]) and step 3 (p. [136]), which explain how to determine the starting point of the count and the direction of the count, respectively; and the student may assume that the starting point of the several Initial Series hereinafter figured will always be the date 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu and that the direction of the count will always be forward.
[124] As will appear later, in connection with the discussion of the Secondary Series, the Initial-series date of a monument does not always correspond with the ending date of the period whose close the monument marks. In other words, the Initial-series date is not always the date contemporaneous with the formal dedication of the monument as a time-marker. This point will appear much more clearly when the function of Secondary Series has been explained.
[125] For the full text of this inscription see Hewett, 1911: pl. XXXV C.
[126] So far as the writer knows, the existence of a period containing 5 tuns has not been suggested heretofore. The very general practice of closing inscriptions with the end of some particular 5-tun period in the Long Count, as 9.18.5.0.0, or 9.18.10.0.0, or 9.18.15.0.0, or 9.19.0.0.0, for example, seems to indicate that this period was the unit used for measuring time in Maya chronological records, at least in the southern cities. Consequently, it seems likely that there was a special glyph to express this unit.
[127] For the full text of this inscription see Maler, 1908 b: pl. 39.
[128] The student should note that from this point steps 2 (p. [139]) and 3 (p. [140]) have been omitted in discussing each text (see p. 162, footnote 3).
[129] In each of the above cases—and, indeed, in all the examples following—the student should perform the various calculations by which the results are reached, in order to familiarize himself with the workings of the Maya chronological system.
[130] The student may apply a check at this point to his identification of the day sign in A4 as being that for the day Eb. Since the month coefficient in A7 is surely 10 (2 bars), it is clear from Table [VII] that the only days which can occupy this position in any division of the year are Ik, Manik, Eb, and Caban. Now, by comparing the sign in A4 with the signs for Ik, Manik, and Caban, c, j, and a', b', respectively, of fig. [16], it is very evident that A4 bears no resemblance to any of them; hence, since Eb is the only one left which can occupy a position 10, the day sign in A4 must be Eb, a fact supported by the comparison of A4 with fig. [16], s-u, above.
[131] The full text of this inscription will be found in Maudslay, 1889-1901: I, pls. 35-37.
[132] The full text of this inscription is given in Maudslay, 1889-1902: I, pls. 27-30.