TRANSLATIONS

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When checking all the numbers I found that I had made a curious mistake, assigned the label Ab7-25 instead of the correct Ab7-26 to one of the 4 viri. A new table, therefore:

b7 84 - 26 = 58 482
b8 84
a1 90
a2 85
a3 76
a4 82
a5 7

Aa5-7

a5 83 - 7 = 76 271
a6 84
a7 85
a8 26

Ab7-26

b1-1 -- b7-26 521
b7-26 -- a5-7 482
a5-7 -- a8-26 271
a8-26 -- b1-1 60
sum 1334

Aa8-26

b1 82 - 1 = 81 521
b2 85
b3 77
b4 80
b5 80
b6 92
b7 26

Ab1-1

a8 85 - 26 = 59 60
b1 1

Only the distance from Aa8-26 to Ab1-1 (60) now remains as an interesting number and that may be a coincidence.

If we change the measuring rule to include both end glyphs we can, however, still suggest:

483 + 271 = 754
Ab7-26 Aa8-26
26 * 29

But then we must change the measuring rule to exclude the end glyphs for 20 * 29:

60 = 3 * 20 520 = 26 * 20
Aa8-26 Ab7-26
20 * 29

In other words: the measure 26 * 29 (= 754) includes Ab7-26 and Aa8-26, while 20 * 29 (= 580) excludes them. The end glyphs both have ordinal number 26 in their lines which may be a signal.

If we disregard line a1 (because 90 = 48 + 42 and because of my earlier suggestions) then line a8 could be regarded as line no. 7 on side a. But that means we should change 483 into 483 - 90 = 393 and 754 into 754 - 90 = 664.

664 is a non-trivial number because it equals 8 * 83 and 83 is the closest whole number to 1334 / 16 = 83.375 while 16 * 83 = 1328 = 1334 - 6.

If we include Ab7-26 and include Aa1-1 and count the glyphs between them we arrive at 144 (= 84 - 25 + 84 + 1), i.e. 59 + 85 = 122.

144 = 4 * 36, i.e. four squares with 6 measures a square with 12, which looks like a good model for the year; 4 quarters of the sun (6) equals 12 months.

As we have one viri at Ab1-1 (which I doubt is a coincidence) we ought to look closer on Aa1-1:

This is a variant of GD42 with no 'knee', the only one in Tahua. I suggest that the 'knee' had to go because the creator wished to express '1' by way of half the 'double-claws' in viri. I believe that the beginning of side a represents the beginning of the solar year.

In Aa5-7 the first complete viri of the solar year appears:

1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31 32 33
34 35 36 37 38
39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

I have numbered starting from Aa4-63 because that is where the internal long parallel with side b begins (at Ab5-1). Redmarked are 26 and 46 because 1334 = (26 + 20) * 29.

The old bird at 46 is GD23 which I earlier have identified as meaning 'ending' (= reversal and new beginning).

Evidently viri is here outside - given that Aa4-63 is inside - the measure of 26.

However, another indicator says that Aa4-63 is outside (and viri no. 26)  - because counting from the beginning of side a (from Aa1-1) we have 314 (= 100*π) as Aa4-64:

Another 'proof' of viri being inside is obtained by counting from the beginning of line a5:

Aa5-1 Aa5-2 Aa5-3 Aa5-4 Aa5-5 Aa5-6 Aa5-7
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Aa5-1 is GD42 which I earlier have identified as a marker of beginning. Excluding Aa5-1 viri is no. 6, the solar number. Adding this 6 to the earlier 20 we receive the wished for 26.

I now suggest that Aa5-17 may contain the missing second part of the viri that is embedded in Aa1-1:

  

Aa5-17 is an aberrant form of GD26 with the 'head' as a separate part, the only such in Tahua (in the same way as Aa1-1 is an aberrant unique form of GD42). Furthermore, we recognize hakaturu, the point of turnaround, as Aa5-18 (no. 350 from Aa1-1):

As a last argument in this complex counting maize, let me point out an important finding: That GD11 seems to symbolize the midsummer sun (here in the pattern 3+1):

... ... ... ... ...
12 29 36 Aa5-29