68 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
ALTAR’ A’. 
Provenance: Original position unknown. Found on the under side of 
the last block of Step P of the Hieroglyphic Stairway 
on the west side of Mound 26 at the Main Structure. 
(See plate 6.) 
Date: 9.3.0.0.0 tO 9.7.0.0.0. 
Text, photograph: plate 8, a. 
Gordon, 1902, plate 13, U. 
Spinden, 1913, plate 20, I. 
References: Gordon, 1902, p. 19. 
Gordon, 19024, p. 130. 
Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1 of text, pp. 66, 67. 
Spinden, 1913, p. 161, and table 1. 
Altar A’ was found during the excavation of the Hieroglyphic Stairway 
of Mound 26, on the under side of the last block in Step P (see p.251, note 2), 
having been cut down from some larger monument in ancient times.’ In 
reshaping it for secondary use here, part of the original design was broken off 
and is nowmissing. Judging from the fragments preserved, the original monu- 
ment must have closely resembled Altars X and Y, though the arrangement 
of the intersecting bands is slightly different. On Altar A’ three vertical 
bands and one horizontal band divide the field of the single sculptured sur- 
face preserved into four panels of 4 glyph-blocks each, making a total of 16 
glyph-blocks for this one side alone. The difference between this monument 
and Altars X and Y is that the two latter have no horizontal bands crossing 
their short sides where the glyphs are presented. Consequently, there are 
only two glyph panels on each short side of Altars X and Y as compared 
with four glyph panels on Altar A’. Unfortunately, in reshaping this block 
for use in the Hieroglyphic Stairway, the upper row of glyphs was broken 
off clear across the top, and since the date was probably presented in the 
upper left-hand corner, as on Altars X and Y, it is impossible to fix the 
position of this monument in the Long Count. The remaining glyphs have 
escaped interpretation up to the present time, although a few are not unfa- 
miliar. It is safe, however, to assign Altar A’ to the same general period as 
Altars X and Y on the basis of its close stylistic similarity, apparent in execu- 
tion, subject-matter, and arrangement. With Altar A’ we reach the last of 
this type of monument in the Early Period, and turn next to a considera- 
tion of the early stele, of which there are 13 now known. 
STELA 22. 
Provenance: Found on the north side of a small plaza on the south- 
western outskirts of the village (Group 9). Now in 
| the cabildo. (See plate 3, and figure 22, w’.) 
Date? * 9.3.0.0.0 tO 9.5.0.0.0. 
Text, (a) photograph: plate 28, b. 
- (b) drawing: figure 7. 
Only a single small fragment of this stela was found. (See figure 7.) The 
part recovered is 53 cm. long, 47 cm. wide, and 32 cm. thick. From the size 
of the glyph-blocks preserved, 16 cm. high by 21 cm. wide, it was possible to 
estimate the original width of the monument to have been 58 cm. 
1Gordon, 1902, p. 19, and 1902a, p. 130. 
