Rick et al.

My wife and I are engaged in a radical downsizing. Sometime in the future we are moving to a much smaller place. Therefore I have gone down from 8 bookcases to 3 and from 4 file cabinets to 2. In the process, I've donated some 1500 books to various libraries and universities. My contributions to HallofMaat are not going to be as well documented as they have been since I no longer can go to a nearby bookshelf and check an original source. In this particular case for example-- I gave away Stuart's book on the inscriptions of Temple XIX and copies of the various books of the Chilam Balam and I no longer can check the accuracy of quotes and citations.

I have dealt with several of Gary Daniel's previous proposals, and you are aware that I have serious doubts about his work and have been quite critical of it. With respect to any number of other claims that have been made about the historical accuracy of folk memories extending far into the past (the Noachian Flood, Native American myths about the formation of Mountains, etc.)- I don't believe them. Therefore, as far as I'm concerned, the idea that the Books of the Chilam Balam, which were written in the 17th and 18th centuries, are accurate reports of events occurring nearly 5,000 years previously is ridiculous. Further, the Chilam Balam Books are contaminated with Spanish beliefs, are written in very esoteric and metaphorical terms, and there are serious disagreements among scholars as to the accuracy of the translations.

David Stuart at the University of Texas would be the ideal person to ask about the calendrical questions posed and the accuracy of the interpretation of the Palenque Temple XIX inscriptions. Jonny McA has raised a number of valid questions about Baillie's proposals (which do not seem to have been published in a refereed journal).

Bernard