Deducting from this number, as before, all the Calendar Rounds possible, 98
(see p. 203, footnote 3), and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp. 139, 140,
141, respectively) to the remainder, remembering that in each operation the
direction of the count is _backward_, not forward,--the starting point will
be found to be 4 Ahau 8 Zotz. This is the first Initial Series yet
encountered which has not proceeded from the date 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, and until
the new starting point here indicated can be substantiated it will be well
to accept the correctness of this text only with a reservation. The most we
can say at present is that if the number recorded in A3-A5, 13.0.0.0.0, be
counted forward from 4 Ahau 8 Zotz as a starting point, the terminal date
reached by calculation will agree with the terminal date as recorded in
B5-A6, 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu. {205}
Let us next examine the Initial Series on the tablet from the Temple of the
Cross at Palenque, which is shown in figure 77, _B_.[178] The introducing
glyph appears in A1-B2, and is followed by the Initial-series number in
A3-B7. The period glyphs in B3, B4, B5, B6, and B7 are all expressed by
their corresponding normal forms, which will be readily recognized. Passing
over the cycle coefficient in A3 for the present, it is clear that the
katun coefficient in A4 is 19. Note the dots around the mouth,
characteristic of the head for 9 (fig. 52, _g-l_), and the fleshless lower
jaw, the essential element of the head for 10 (fig. 52, _m-r_). The
combination of the two gives the head in A4 the value of 19. The tun
coefficient in A5 is equally clear as 13. Note the banded headdress,
characteristic of the head for 3 (fig. 51, _h, i_), and the fleshless lower
jaw of the 10 head, the combination of the two giving the head for 13 (fig.
52, _w_).[179] The head for 4 and the hand zero sign appear as the
coefficient of the uinal and kin signs in A6 and A7, respectively. The
number will read, therefore, ?.19.13.4.0. Let us examine the cycle
coefficient in A3 again. The natural assumption, of course, is that it is
9. But the dots characteristic of the head for 9 are not to be found here.
As this head has no fleshless lower jaw, it can not be 10 or any number
above 13, and as there is no clasped hand associated with it, it can not
signify 0, so we are limited to the numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,[180] 6, 7, 8,
11, 12, and 13, as the numeral here recorded. Comparing this form with
these numerals in figures 51 and 52, it is evident that it can not be 1, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 13, and that it must therefore be 2, 11, or 12.
Substituting these three values in turn, we have 2.19.13.4.0, 11.19.13.4.0,
and 12.19.13.4.0 as the possible numbers recorded in A3-B7, and reducing
these numbers to units of the first order and deducting the highest number
of Calendar Rounds possible from each, and applying rules 1, 2, and 3 (pp.
139, 140, and 141, respectively) to their remainders, the terminal dates
reached will be:
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