[Aztlan] MA: Source of term "baktun"?

[Michael Finley]

I think it was probably William Gates  who was responsible for baktun. 
(He also seems to have given us tzolk'in).  Earlier Mayanists used the 
term "cycle" for 20 katun (eg Morley,  "Introduction to the Study of 
Maya Hieroglyphs," 1915).  Gates' "An Outline Dictionary of Maya 
Glyphs," 1932,  uses "baktun," as well as "piktun," "alautun" etc. for 
still higher periods.  He wrote: " It only needed to regard katun as the 
shortening of kal-tun, 20-tun, to go on adopt all the other numbers from 
bak to alau, in order to give us, at the least, satisfactory Maya terms, 
and get away from the cumbersome Cycle, Great Cycle, Grand Era etc. And 
anything we can correctly do to use Maya or Mayance terms and ideas, is 
that much more help on our still narrow road." (p. 76, Dover reprint 
edition).  "Bak"  is a Yucatec numerical classifier for 400. Thus Gates' 
baktun = 400 tuns.

Michael Finley

Robert Sitler wrote:

>Does anyone know the source of this term. My understanding is that the Classic term was "pik." Was it a Western academic that made up the new term? Anyone know who?
>
>bob
>
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