Evening star., 1923-12-17

by the Associated ffess.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass, December IT.
The earliest dates in new world
history are August 6, 613 B. c., and
December 10, $50 B. c. by the present
system of marking time. the Pea
| body Museum Of Harvard University
| announced in making public the
| final solution Of the chronology of
Mayan dates.
This solution, made possible by the
studies of DR.. H. ]. Spinden of the
! museum, is hailed as a distinct vic
tory for the American School of Re-
search in the records of the ancient
inhabitants of Central America, since
1t follows the lines of approach laid
down by several scientists of the
United States in contradistinction to
the basic theories OF the. German,
French and Spanish savants.
These positive and perfectly de-
! fined points in chronology proba bly,
fell within the working years of one
of the worlds first scientists, the
nomical genius who invented the
Central American calendar and es-
tablished the Mayan era" the mu-
| seum's announcement says. "Actu-
| ally the numerous dates on the mon
uments of the great Mayan civiliza-
| tton in Yucatan and adjacent terri
| tory are counted from a beginning
J day which corresponds to October
IA. 1878 B. c.. but this beginning day
was reached by putting seven cycles
| of $4,000 days each for the past of
the world before the historical first
day of the numerical count.
Historical First Day.
l..
gust 6, 613 B. c. At this time a nu-
merical record of elapsed days was
begun, and in the years that fol-
lowed various astronomical events
were put down in connection with
the days on which they happened, a
OF time adequate for the perfection
Of a calendarical machine.
''On the second date December 10,
$50 3. c., the perfected calendar of
the Mayas was formally inaugurated.
according to an inscription at the
ruined Mayan city of Copan. in west
ern Honduras This perfected calen-
dar fuhctioned without the loss of a
single day for 1000 years. only to
break down and pass out of use
when Mayan books were destroyed by
the Spanish inQuisition in Yucatan, in
A. d. 1861"
Discovery Of the key to the ancient
calendar of the Central American In
dfans reveals that surprising intel
lectual power existed in the western
world before the coming of Columbus.
the report declares, and adds:
THE inauguration of the perfected
Mayan calendar on December 10,
$50 B. c., means the invention before
this date of symbol for Zero-or
completion, according to the Maya
mind-as we'll as figures for entire
numbers. 1t means place-value nota-
tion in the writing Of numbers. Now
place-value notation was unknown to
the Greeks and the Romans and its
introduction into western Europe was
accomplished by the Arabs. This was
the Arabic decimal system upon which
modern mathematics depend. The
Mayan system was arranged on a
modified base of twenty and, there
fore. does not exactly parallel the
Arabic system. The inauguration OF
the Mayan calendar at this early
time means that the hieroglyphics Of
the twenty days of the month, the
eighteen months Of the year, etc, had
already taken form"
Checked up Calendars.
Dr.. Spinden, who is given credit
for the solution of mystery that
puzzled scientists for many years.
worked out a day-for-day correla-
ton of the Mayan and Gregorian
calendars and corroborated his find
ings by using dates on monuments
in ancient cities. such as Copan, Tikal
and Palenque, in connection with alb
able astronomical events. Tables have
been formed whereby Mayan dates
can be transferred easily into Chris
tian dates, and vice versa.
The most dramatic proof is the dis
covery that a series Of monuments