[Aztlan] zero does not mean "shell"

[Ed Barnhart]

Hi Listeros,

Just a thought about shells and flowers as zeros.  I have always suggested
to students that the bars and dots are symbols that began from a
manipulative math system, originating from sticks and stones arranged on the
ground.  When writing was developed, the symbols for 1 and 5 took on those
forms.  

If that is correct, then what would stand for zero?  For those near the
coast, shells would have been an abundant physical object to use.  For those
far inland, a flower might have been used.  I have no ethnographic evidence
for such a suggestion, it just makes sense to me.


Dr. Edwin Barnhart
Director, Maya Exploration Center
7301 Ranch Road 620 N
Suite 155 #284
Austin, Texas 78726
(512) 350-3321

-----Original Message-----
From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
On Behalf Of Anna Blume
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 12:41 PM
To: chunchucmil at yahoo.com; aztlan at lists.famsi.org
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] zero does not mean "shell"

Dear Listserv,

I am watching and noting carefully this discussion of Maya zero.  It is a
topic I have been and continue to be researching for an article I look to
publish at the end of this year.  In terms of the iconography of Maya zero,
the shell is only one of several visual forms and glyphs that the Maya used.
The shell is predominant in the codices, but on pots and in the inscriptions
it is more commonly represented as a partially visible quatrefoil, shell in
hand, or as the enigmatic god of the number zero with hand over his jaw.  It
is through looking at each of these variants that I have begun to see
something as we say "through a glass darkly."

Anna


Professor Anna Blume
School of Visual Arts
209 East 23rd Street
New York, New York 10010


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