Since the discovery of emblem glyphs by Heinrich Berlin,
in 1958, and the reconstruction of the dynastic history of Piedras
to the Caracol dynasty in the first series; two important persons
and another possible ruler and their parents and consorts in the
second series; and three rulers and their parents and consorts in
the third series.
Negras by Tatiana Proskouriakoff, in 1960, the study of Mayan
inscriptions has been advanced. The dynastic history of major
sites has now been reconstructed, and the significance of the
greater part of glyphs understood. However, it is still too early
to say that the Mayan glyphs have been deciphered, since even
the rules of glyphic usage are not well-known. A necessary first
step is an analysis of the glyphs. In a series of this papers, I
attempt to formulate rules of Maya glyphic writing, to study stylistic
change, and elucidate dynastic history. The Naranjo texts
are examined first.
The history of Naranjo is divided into three series by two
intervals during which no stelaes were erected (Table 1). First
all readable dates were extracted (Table 2) and arranged
chronologically for each series to understand the over all dynastic
history (Table 3). Next, calendrical glyphs were examined for
variations and stylistic change.
The texts consist of a repetition of date and non-date glyphs.
Those of series I are the simplest, and are therefore utilized as
they stand. Those of series II and III were re-written into the
linear forms for each date sentence or clause to facilitate the
analysis of complex texts (Figs. 17, 18). In the analysis of each
series, I tried to clarify dynastic history and discover synominous
glyphs (i.e., glyphic interchangeability). With respect to
dynastic history, I discuss six persons having a close relationship