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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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