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

[sharon mcmullen orlet]

so, is th more traditional term "pik"-- or what did they call these cycles, 
grand cycles, etc?
sharon orlet
st louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Finley" <mjfinley at shaw.ca>
To: "Robert Sitler" <rsitler at stetson.edu>
Cc: <aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 1:09 AM
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] MA: Source of term "baktun"?


>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
>>
>>________________
>>Robert K. Sitler
>>Latin American Studies Program Director
>>Dept. of Modern Languages & Literatures
>>Stetson University
>>DeLand, Florida  32723
>>(386) 822-7281
>>http://www.stetson.edu/~rsitler/
>>---
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>>
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