24 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
of Harvard University. To describe all his activities at Copan alone would 
carry us beyond the limits of the present investigation; moreover, in order pro- 
perly to appreciate them, it is not only necessary to see the finished product, 
the section on archeology of the Biologia Centrali-Americana, but also to 
understand the tremendous difficulties of climate, of country, and of political 
disturbance which stood in the way of their fulfillment. Indeed, Maudslay’s 
indefatigable labors, covering many years in an adverse environment, easily 
constitute the most important field contribution to Maya archeology. 
We come next to the third great contribution to the knowledge of 
Copan, namely, the work of the Peabody Museum of American Archeology 
and Ethnology of Harvard University. This research, which contemplated 
an exhaustive and definitive investigation of the site, was inaugurated in 1891 
through the efforts of the Curator, Frederic W. Putnam, and C. P. Bowditch. 
Unfortunately, at the conclusion of the Fourth Expedition in 1895, when 
the most promising results from the excavations were just beginning to be 
realized, the government of Honduras abruptly revoked the edict under 
which the Museum had been working, thereby terminating the investigation, 
which was never resumed.” | 
The work of the Peabody Museum at Copan is of first importance. In 
spite of the fact that it was unhappily interrupted almost before it had 
gotten under way, the four expeditions undertaken resulted in the accumu- 
lation of an enormous amount of new material. Many new monuments 
were found, which were photographed and molded;* and extensive excava- 
tions were undertaken, which resulted in the discovery of new inscriptions,‘ 
1Maudslay has written several shorter articles on his work at Copan, the titles of which will be found in the 
bibliography. A larger work is his 4 Glimpse at Guatemala and some Notes on the Ancient Monuments of Central 
America (see Maudslay, A. C. and A. P., 1899), which was written in collaboration with his wife. 
2In 1889 Mr. E. W. Perry obtained from the government of Honduras a concession to found a National 
Museum of Antiquities at Copan, and a Society of Antiquarians of which he was to be the permanent president. 
This project was never realized, but in 1891 Mr. C. P. Bowditch obtained all the rights pertainimg to Mr. Perry 
through this concession. ‘This arrangement proving impracticable, a new plan was proposed to President Bogran 
of:Honduras, which was accepted, and an edict was promulgated under the terms of which the Peabody Museum 
acquired the care of the antiquities of the republic for a period of 10 years, with the additional right of excavation 
and permission to retain half of the objects found. Under this liberal arrangement work was begun at once. The 
First Expedition (1891-92) was in charge of Mr. Marshall H. Saville; the Second Expedition (1892-93) was in 
charge of Mr. John G. Owens; the Third Expedition (1893-94) was in charge of Mr. Alfred P. Maudslay; and the 
Fourth Expedition (1894-95), in which the American Museum of Natural History also participated, was in charge 
of Dr. G. B. Gordon. 
In 1894 there was a change of administration in Honduras, President Bogran, who had always been very 
friendly to the Copan project, giving way to a new administration which at first annulled the Bogran edict, but 
later reafirmed it. However, it became impracticable for the Museum to prosecute the research any longer, and exca- 
vation was suspended after the Fourth Expedition. With the close of this project there came to an end the most 
ambitious investigation of a single site ever attempted in the Maya field. The opening years were of such promise 
as to raise great expectation for the future, and the untimely conclusion came as a severe blow to the science, from 
which it has recovered but slowly. ; 
®In his report on the work of the First Expedition, Saville mentions 24 stela, of which 19 were previously known. 
The 5 new stele discovered by the First Expedition would seem to have been 6, 7, 8,9, and 11. Saville reported 
8 stele standing in 1892: A, B, D, F, H, J, N, and P; 13 stelz fallen and broken: C, E, I, M, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 
11, and 12; and 3 fallen but entire: 6, 8, and 9. Stela 6 has been broken since. Gordon (1896, p. 33) says 
there are 23 monuments known—he omits stela 12—of which 15 are in, or about, the Great Plaza: A, B, C, D, E, 
F, H, I, J, M, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 11. The remaining 8 he gives are N, P, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, and 10. Stele 13, 15, 16, 
and 19 would seem to have been discovered by the Third or Fourth Expedition. 
4The Hieroglyphic Stairway of Mound 26, the hieroglyphic step in Temple 21a, and the hieroglyphic step on the 
reviewing stand in the Western Court should be included here. 
