CMGG entry for kinchiltun      (This article is part of the Learner's Maya Glyph Guide and Concordance.)

Translation: calendar unit kinchiltun
Part of speech: Noun

Spellings of kinchiltun

                                     

IC.p16.pdfp20.#8.1                      Montgomery = Coll-1                 

                                                         YAX HS2 Step 7 L1

kinchiltun                                        kinchiltun                                   

 

IC.p16.pdfp20.#8.2

kinchiltun

 

·     Variants (2):

o A. Abstract:

§ Top:

·       Left: syllabogram nu.

·       Right: logogram TZUTZ.

§ Bottom:

·       Abstract variant of PIK.

o B. Head:

§ Top:

·       Left: syllabogram nu.

·       Right: logogram TZUTZ.

§ Bottom:

·        Head variant of PIK (bird-head with hand-jaw).

·     This is one calendar unit above kalabtun, i.e. it consists of 20 kalabtuns. It is known that this calendar unit is not pronounced kinchiltun – this is just a name used by epigraphers for convenience. While it’s not entirely clear whether it is of itself a logogram or if it’s a compound with PIK/PIH as part of it, the structure of the three higher units (piktun, kalabtun, and kinchiltun) – all with PIK/PIH at the bottom – suggests that it’s the latter, a compound.

·     What distinguishes kinchiltun from pik, piktun, and kalabtun are the elements at the top, which appear to be nu and TZUTZ.

 

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Higher units above kinchiltun

 

Montgomery = Coll-1                 

YAX HS2 Step 7 I1-O1

Extended LC = 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.9.15.13.6.9 (see below for individual unamed units and elsewhere in the CMGG for the named ones)

 

                                             

Montgomery = Coll-1                 Montgomery = Coll-1                 Montgomery = Coll-1                 Montgomery = Coll-1                   Montgomery = Coll-1       

YAX HS2 Step 7 K1                       YAX HS2 Step 7 J2                       YAX HS2 Step 7 I2                       YAX HS2 Step 7 J1                         YAX HS2 Step 7 I1              

13.<?:K’AN:HAAB?>                    13.<?:NAL:HAAB?>                     13.<IXIIM?:HAAB?>                    13.<<<?:?>.IXIIM?>:HAAB?>       13.<WITZ’?:HAAB?>          

alawtun

1 unit above kinchiltun               2  units above kinchiltun           3 units above kinchiltun             4 units above kinchiltun              5 units above kinchiltun 

 

·     Summary of the calendar units:

o The 5 smallest and most basic units are: K’IN, WINIK, HAAB, WINIKHAAB (katun), PIK/PIH (baktun).

§ K’atun: this is an elided form of k’al-tuun = 20 years, with the -l- dropped. [Reference: TOK-lecture, exact reference lost.]

§ Bak’tun is a completely fictive name with no basis in the glyphs, as the word or root ba- (as an original or corrupted form) meaning “400” is not known in any modern Mayan language – it’s just a convenient term which was adopted in the early years of Maya epigraphy. [Reference: TOK-lecture, exact reference lost.]

o There are 3 higher units which are not common, but not extremely rare either:

§ They are piktun, kalabtun, kinchiltun.

§ They are given in IC.p16 & K&L.p61. They are not given in K&H, BMM9, 25EMC, EB (and not in TOK, as they are not single logograms and certainly not (single) syllabograms).

§ They are also given in TMHW.pdfp416 along with glyph examples, but kalabtun and kinchiltun are given together, with their glyphs not separated.

§ The terms used as not the Classic Maya names but are nicknames given by epigraphers, for ease of reference.

§ All three seem to have the 2-KAWAK element / PIK as a component at the bottom.

o There are even higher units which are extremely rare. As far as I know, only one higher unit – alawtun – has been given a nickname by epigraphers.

§ Alawtun is the highest known unit with a nickname:

·       It’s given on a slide shown in TOK-YT2021-lecture23.t0:12:50, as a label for that unit on a drawing of COB Stela 1.

·       It’s also given in Gonzalez&Hoppan-TdlMdTeQeeM.p11.pdfp12 as (Yucatek) (jun)alaw (no glyph shown in the paper).

§ It’s interesting to observe that the YAX HS2 Step 7 LC has 13 calendar units (see at the end of the examples above) – another 5 above kinchiltun:

·       “13” was a number of special significance to the Classic Maya, and for many of the higher calendar units, “13” acts in some way like “20” – it’s a moment when something significant changes.

·       It’s hence probably not a co-incidence that there are exactly 13 calendar units in this extended LC expression.

§ Many of the higher units seem to have HAAB-like element as a component at the bottom.

o For the higher units, usage varies between -tuun and -tun, between k’atun and katun, and between b’aktun, bak’tun and baktun. It seems quite pointless to attempt to document which sources use which form.

·     For the higher calendar units, there is the puzzling question of whether there is a factor of 13 or 20 as one goes from one unit to the next higher one. This is because of the fact that for the longer LC’s, the latest creation date (4-Ajaw 8-Kumk’u) is written as … .13. … .13.13.13.0.0.0.0, where we might instead expect … .0. … .0.0.0.0.0.0.0, based on a (naïve and) strict mathematical understanding of the Maya calendar system. This suggests that 13 behaves in some ways like 0, which in turn suggests that the multiplication factor is 13 instead of the expected 20.

·     This question is discussed from different points of view (including the “End of the World” in 2012) in the following papers:

o Stray-13Bv20B: a 43-page paper that reaches the conclusion that there were different cycles, with a factor 13 and a factor 20, so both are in fact true.

o Stuart-TEDoCS5: a very short paper on the Coba Stela 5.

o Gronemeyer&MacLeod-WCHi2021: a 68-page paper on TRT Monument 6.