There are 3 glyphs between the last of the viri (with 'cut-off' upper 'tail') and the pair Aa8-30--31:
Counting from Ab1-1 we will find Aa8-31 to be glyph number 1280. 521 + 754 + 5 = 1280. Aa8-31 is the 5th glyph beyond the last viri. Counting in groups of 5 (which is the natural way to do it, using one hand to look at and the other to count with), and in the beginning being restricted to simple addition and subtraction, how do we reach such a large number as 1280? Before true multiplication could be grasped indefinitely large numbers could be reached by doubling. 1 seed of grain on the first square of the chess board, 2 on the second, 4 on the third etc will within a short time lead to astronomically large numbers. Fact is, the series 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 ... was used for conveniently reaching large numbers. The Mamari moon calendar has 8 periods and the 16th is the last night of growing moon. 64 is the number of squares on a chess board and 16 is also a square number - square as the earth (which moon resembles). 256 is also a square: 16 * 16 = 256. (All terms in the series 1, 2, 4, 8 etc which have odd ordinal numbers are squares.) The 'earth year' - when sun is close instead of being far away and the season is 'in the water' - ought to be 256 days (like a 'great growing moon' season). If we double the number of fingers on one hand 8 times we reach 5 * 256 = 1280. |
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