12 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
The Great Plaza was probably the most important gathering-place in 
the city, since it is the largest, being 96 meters wide by 112 meters long. It 
has tiers of steps or seats running around three sides, giving it the effect of a 
vast square theater, the fourth side being open except for the pyramid mound 
No. 4, which stands by itself. This pyramid shows very clearly in plate 7, d, 
and its isolated and commanding position with reference to the plaza doubt- 
less indicates that it played an important part in the spectacles and cere- 
monies enacted there. It is approached by a stairway on the east side, and 
Maudslay,' who excavated it in 1885, was of the opinion that a building had 
never stood on its summit. 
Within this spacious court are to be found most of the finer stele: 
A,-B,.C, D, F,-H, and 4, and several of the older-ones, 16; 17, E; and 1. >In 
plate 7, a and b, the positions of these several monuments are indicated by 
arrows above, and their corresponding names appear below. Its construc- 
tion would appear to have been commenced after 9.12.5.0.0 of the Maya Era, 
and prior to 9.13.10.0.0.. At least Stela I and its altar, which record the 
former date, stand in a niche or recess that has been left in the terrace on 
the eastern side, the terrace being built around them, apparently indicating 
that they were erected prior to its construction; and Stela J, recording the 
latter date, was probably the first monument erected after the Great Plaza 
was laid out. 
The Great Plaza was probably completed about 9.15.0.0.0 (date of 
Stele A and B) and following this, for the next 33 years, the center of building 
activity was shifted to the Court of the Hieroglyphic Stairway, where Temples 
4,.9;.10,:26,-and ‘LI were next erected: | 
In the Gordon and Maudslay maps no Middle Court is recognized, all 
the large area north of the Acropolis being included in the Great Plaza. For 
purposes of closer description, however, it has seemed better to divide this 
large,and broken area into two courts, the Great Plaza and the Middle Court. 
(See plate 6.) 
The former, as defined here, is a perfectly definite architectural unit; 
terraces extend along three sides, the center of the fourth side being occupied 
by a single pyramid. (See plate 6.) The latter, as used here, is rather 
clearly defined on the map, and even more so on the ground, Structures 4, 6, 
5, 7, 9, and the L-shaped extension of 10 forming an inclosure scarcely less 
marked than the Great Plaza, and sufficiently a unit to warrant its separation 
from the larger area. 
The Middle Court contains few sculptures. Stela 3 in the center is the 
most important; Stela 1 and its altar in the southeast corner and Altar K on 
the west side are the only other monuments in the inclosure. Stela 2 lies 
just outside of the court to the east, and Altar L is on top of the extension of 
Mound 10 mentioned above. 
As already noted, in addition to the Main Structure and the parts of the 
plain immediately adjacent, the valley for a distance of several miles, both 

'Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1 of text, p. 20. 
