Aids to the Study of the Maya Codices Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-85, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, pages 253-372 by Cyrus Thomas — Summary & Review

This extensive study focuses on the Dresden Codex and related Maya manuscripts, presenting a careful examination of their physical structure, numerical systems, calendrical cycles, and symbolic content. The Dresden Codex, discovered in 1739 and preserved through various custodians, is shown to possibly consist of two originally separate codices, distinguished by layout and content differences. The work meticulously describes the Maya numeral system using dots and lines to represent numbers up to 19, and identifies a distinct symbol likely representing 20, reflecting the vigesimal base of their counting.

Central to the analysis is the Maya calendar system, which combines a 365-day solar year with 20 day names and 18 months of 20 days each, plus five supplemental days. The codices encode time through paired red and black numerals: red numerals mark key days or ceremonial intermediates, while black numerals count intervals between days. The study presents detailed tables and examples illustrating how these numerals interact, including a method of adding black numerals to preceding red numerals and casting out multiples of thirteen, reflecting the Maya 13-day week cycle.

The work also explores the complex arrangement of day columns and numeral series across multiple plates, revealing patterns of intervals often corresponding to multiples of 13, 20, or 52 days. Some series appear to follow cycles of 360-day years, suggesting a calendrical system distinct from the solar year, and others relate to four-year series or the sacred 260-day cycle. The presence of marks such as red unit numerals enclosed by circles indicates special years or ceremonial significance, possibly linking the Maya calendar to broader chronological frameworks.

The manuscript’s composite nature is discussed, with evidence of multiple original sources and later additions or interpolations, including some irregularities and possible scribal errors. The reading direction is established as left to right for lines and top to bottom for columns, though some groups of characters and pictures may be ordered right to left.

A significant portion is dedicated to the decipherment of Maya writing, emphasizing the challenges posed by its mixture of pictographs, ideographs, and phonetic elements. The study highlights the limited usefulness of Landa's alphabet for full decipherment but notes its role in identifying syllabic components. Various symbols representing animals, deities, natural elements, and actions are analyzed, including the deity Kukulcan, the god of death, and a figure possibly representing the deified hero Zamna or Ytzamna. The work suggests that Maya writing was in a transitional stage incorporating phoneticism alongside ideographs, with homonyms and rebus principles playing a role.

Throughout, the tone remains scholarly and methodical, presenting hypotheses cautiously and acknowledging uncertainties. The author respects previous scholars like Dr. Förstemann and Dr. Schellhas while offering independent observations and corrections. The study invites readers to engage with the codices’ complexity, encouraging patience and rigor in approaching these ancient texts. It also underscores the ongoing nature of research, with many questions remaining open, such as the exact meanings of certain symbols, the full structure of the calendar systems, and the precise original order of the codices’ leaves.

In sum, this work offers a detailed, evidence-based window into the Maya codices’ numerical and symbolic systems, the challenges of their decipherment, and the cultural richness encoded in these fragile manuscripts.