rye) THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
this groove would have come just where the flooring of the court touched the 
stela. (See figure 19 for a cross-section showing these details.) 
The provenance of Stela 7, the discovery of a foundation-stone just 
below where it was found, and finally the above measurements, leave little 
doubt that this monument formerly stood here and, more important still, 
that a fragment of Stela 24 was reused in its foundations. ht 
Before developing this point any further, let us first examine the inscrip- 
tion on Stela 24. This is presented on the front and back, the former showing 
parts of 6 glyph-blocks (figure 13, a), and the latter parts of 5 (figure 13, d). 
The glyphs on the front are as clear as though they had just left the sculptor’s 
hands, and they unmistakably record the date 9.2.10.0.0 3 Ahau 8 Cumhu. 
(See figure 13, a.) 
acs ie) « 

Fic. 13.—Inscription on Stela 24: a, front; >, back (only one fragment recovered). 
The first glyph-block on the front records 9 cycles, the line of fracture 
passing through the upper part of the block. The upper dot and the upper 
end of the bar of the coefficient are missing, but judging from the height of 
the complete glyph-block just below, 18 to 19 cm., the coefficient originally 
recorded could have been none other than 9g. 
Since this fragment begins with the cycle-sign and coefficient, it is 
evident that the Initial Series introducing glyph occupied the space of four 
glyph-blocks above it, 7. ¢., Ai-B2, and that including the missing parts of 
the cycle and katun-signs and coefficients and the plain band across the top, 
the stela originally extended another 49 cm. above the top of the fragment 
found. 
The katuns follow the cycles in 83. The coefficient is clearly 2, in spite 
of some loss of detail and of the upper half of the upper dot. The lower dot 
has the same interior treatment, 7. ¢., parallel lines, as the dots of the cycle 
coefficient. “The period glyph is also partially effaced. | 
The next glyph-block, a4, is perfect, and unmistakably records 10 
tuns. The upper left hand corner of the next block, B4, is effaced, but 
both the period glyph and coefficient are clear as 0 uinals. 
