56 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
a large, grotesque serpent’s head, and on stylistic grounds all of these monu- 
ments, both stele and altars, may be referred with certainty to the earliest 
group of sculptures now extant at the site. 
ALTAR J’. 
Provenance: Original position unknown. Found in the foundations 
of Stela ro (Group 12), and now fallen several hun- 
dred meters down the slope to the east of this monu- 
ment. ( See plate 3.) 
Date: 9.0.0.0.0 tO 9.5.0.0.0. 
Text, photograph: plate 8, d. 
Altar J’ is 90 cm. long, 42 cm. wide, and 20 to 22 cm. thick. The top, 
left end, and front are sculptured, and the back is dressed but has no carving. 
The right end is rough, as if there were a piece broken off here. The bottom 
is plain. Two bands, crossing each other at right angles in the upper left- 
hand corner of the top, extend down over the sculptured end and front. 
The grotesque serpent’s head on the top also extends down over the front. 
The relief is very low, the carving being little more than outlined. The 
execution is crude and the design is simple. There are no glyphs on the frag- 
ment preserved and it is therefore impossible to date this monument exactly. 
Concerning its relative age, however, we are not entirely in the dark; since 
the date of Stela 10, under which it was found, is surely 9.10.19.13.0; Altar 
J’ must therefore be older than this. On stylistic grounds it may probably 
be referred to the early part of Cycle 9, perhaps to the first four or five katuns. 
/ ALTAR K’, 
Provenance: Original position unknown. Found in the foundations 
of Stela 10 (Group 12), and now fallen several hun- 
dred meters down the slope east of this monument 
with Altar J’. (See plate 3.) 
Date: 9.0.0.0.0 to 9.5.0.0.0. 
Text, photograph: plate 8, e. 
Altar K’ is in every way the sister piece of Altar J’, and may even bea 
part of the same monument. It is 58 cm. long, 42 cm. wide, and 20 to 22 
cm. thick, the last two measurements being identical with the corresponding 
dimensions of Altar J’.. As both J’ and K’ apparently have their right ends 
missing, it is not improbable that originally both may have been of the same 
length. The design is the same in each and is similarly presented. The 
top, one end, and front are sculptured, the back being dressed but having 
no carving. The remaining end is rough and shows a broken edge. The 
bottom is plain. Two bands crossing each other in the upper right-hand 
corner of the top extend down over one end and the front. There is also a 
grotesque serpent’s head on the top, crudely executed in the same low relief 
as that on Altar J’. 
On the sculptured end of Altar K’ there is what appears to be the lower 
part of the day-sign Ahau (O) . Unfortunately the upper portion 
is missing and with it the coefficient, if such were ever present. 
Because it was found in the same place and because of its close stylistic 
