Note 92 — Chapter IV

The literature of the Maya calendar system is, of course, intimately connected with that of the Mexican (see Note 55). The native sources for its study are the Codices and the monumental inscriptions, while of early Spanish expositions the most important are those of Landa and Pio Pérez. In recent times a considerable body of scholars have devoted special attention to the Maya inscriptions and to the elucidation of the calendar, foremost among them being, in America, Ancona, Bowditch, Chavero, Goodman, Morley, Spinden, Cyrus Thomas, and in Europe, Brasseur de Bourbourg, Förstemann, Rosny, and Seler. The foundation of the elucidation of Maya astronomical knowledge is Förstemann's studies of the Dresden Codex, while the study of mythic elements associated with the calendar is represented by Charency, especially "Des ages ou soleils d'après la mythologie des peuples de la Nouvelle Espagne," section ii, in CA iv. 2; and by J. H. Martínez, "Los Grandes Ciclos de la historia Maya," in CA xvii. 2. Summary accounts of the Maya calendar are to be found in Spinden [a], Beuchat, Joyce [b], Arnold, and Frost, while Bowditch [b] and Morley [c] are in the nature of text-book introductions to the subject.