Mayan Fire Glyphs

Resumen

The history of the decipherment of the Mayan “fire” glyphs shows clearly how the domine of the calendarical studies so long prevented proper utilization of known data, even when they had some calendarical importance. In the present paper, an attempt will be made to redefine the characteristics of the glyphs which mean “fire”, to eliminate a number of glyphs which have been called “fire” on very dubious grounds, and to examine the context, in the inscriptions, of those glyphs which do mean “fire”. In particular, it will be pointed out that Spiden extended the meaning “fire” from the original determination of Seler to a host of other glyphs, and that whith the “sky” glyph. Available evidence suggests that “fire” in the inscriptions refers primarily to ceremonial, although the glyphs may occasionally occur as part of personal names.