HEWETT— WORK AT QUIRIGUA 



The inscriptions comprise twenty-three glyph blocks on the north- 

 ern side, sixteen on the western, and sixteen on the eastern, two of 

 which are obliterated, making a total of fifty-five. Many of the 

 glyphs are so badly weathered that identification will be impossible. 



By a fortunate circumstance, the stela leaning slightly to the 

 north so as to protect the glyph panel on that side from weathering, 

 the Initial Series is the best preserved of any part of the inscription. 

 It is badly damaged, and beyond the first two glyphs not legible with 

 absolute certainty. The right half of the panel is occupied by eighteen 

 glyphs. On the left side, in large size, are the five essential blocks of 

 the Initial Series. It is possible that there may have been at the top 

 of the column an introductory glyph which is almost obliterated. 

 This monument marks a date approximately five years earlier than 

 the oldest at Quirigua, and is the earliest that has been recovered in 

 the Motagua valley proper. Another shaft has been found in an out- 

 lying village, but it is without date or sculpture of any kind. 



An important part of the work of the last season at Quirigua was 

 that of making replicas of the monuments, which marks the first 

 successful use of glue molds in the tropics. Heretofore copying has 

 been done with papier mache or with plaster. The process used at 

 this time has been described by Mr Neil M. Judd 1 and need not be 

 repeated here, except to say that the results are almost perfect repro- 

 ductions. The hieroglyphic inscriptions may be studied from the 

 replicas which are now set up in the San Diego Museum (pi. ix, x), as 

 well as upon the original monuments. Even the texture of the stone 

 is perfectly shown. 



The replicas made include stelae E, D, C, and K, and animal 

 figures B and P, using the nomenclature of Mr Maudsley; in the 

 numerical system used in the reports of the School of American 

 Archaeology, numbers 5, 4, 7, 13, 6, and 10. Replicas were made of the 

 two lesser monuments known as the Tiger Head and the Great Seal, 

 and of the heads found in the excavation of Temple No. 1 (pi. XI, xn). 

 This leaves eight monuments still to be copied. It is deemed of first 

 importance to do this soon, on account of the fate that has befallen 

 some of those at Copan. 



Among the special studies of the last expedition, only one will be 

 mentioned, viz., that of the Leaning Monument. The work of making 

 the replica enabled us to cover every square inch of the surface. It 

 will be remembered that it leans thirteen and a half feet from the 

 perpendicular, having something more than twenty-six feet exposed 



1 American Anthropologist, Jan.-Mar. 1915. 

 [I6l] 



