82 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
It was erected, as we have seen, on the third lahuntun-ending of 
Cycle 9, viz, 9.2.10.0.0, but where can not be established. It would seem 
probable, however, that it must have stood at or very near the place where 
it was found, namely, at Group 9, where the modern village now stands, 
which, as will appear later, was probably the earliest permanent settlement 
in the valley. 
Some 128 years later, in 9.9.0.0.0, we find a piece of it, indeed the most 
important piece of all, since it carries the dedicatory date, was built into 
the foundations of Stela 7. 
This practice of reusing earlier monuments in the foundations of later 
ones was fairly common at Copan in the Middle and Great Periods, but so 
far as the writer is aware, this is not only the earliest example of this practice 
but also the only example yet reported from the Early Period. 
What is the explanation of this custom? Was it in compliance with 
some religious concept, or had it no other foundation than the purely utili- 
tarian purpose of making use of old monuments which had outgrown their 
usefulness? Spinden believes that it may have had a ceremonial significance 
and is possibly another expression of the custom of placing caches of bowls, 
vases, etc., in the vaults or chambers under the monuments, as in the cases 
of Stele 3, 1, 1, M, C, and 4, the latter, perhaps, analogous to our own cus- 
tom of depositing current periodicals, coins, photographs, and the like in 
corner-stones. 
It appears to the writer as not improbable that such reuse of their ear- 
lier monuments by the Maya may have been made for some religious pur- 
pose; in short, that such a practice was “good medicine.” If, for example, 
the lahuntun ending in 9.2.10.0.0 had been a particularly prosperous one, 
in which the crops were unusually fruitful, it would not be an unnatural 
or illogical assumption for the primitive mind that the monument which 
had been erected to commemorate this particular period had partaken of 
its beneficent character; and further, that if such a monument were placed 
in the foundation of a later one, a like period of prosperity and plenty might 
be made to follow. In the present case, the fact that the piece of the monu- 
ment used for this purpose was the one upon which the date was recorded 
might be interpreted as being due to deliberate selection, and thus lend 
color to the idea; but amid such speculations the purely utilitarian explana- 
tion should not be overlooked, namely, that by 9.9.0.0.0, Stela 24 may have 
outlived the purpose for which it was originally designed, and being a 
selected piece of stone in the first place, large as well as strong, and more- 
over already shaped and dressed, it was used in the foundations of Stela 7 
as being convenient, suitable and available for that purpose.! 
Since this fragment of Stela 24 was buried only 128 years after it had 
been carved, its remarkable preservation is easily explained. The detail, at 
least on the Initial Series side, seems to have preserved most, if not all, of its 
1Other examples of this custom will be found elsewhere at Copan as follows: Altar J’, p. 56; Altar K’, p. 56; 
Altar X, p. 63; Altar Y, p. 66; Stela 9, p. 93; Stela 21, p. 95; Stela 22, p. 69; Altar A’, p.68; and Fragment S’, p. 121. 
