106 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
It has been noted that the mound of Stela 7 was the richest repository 
of archaic monuments in the entire valley. For example, of the 22 monu- 
ments now referable to the Early Period at Copan, 8 were either found on 
this mound or were traceable to it, as already described: 
Stela 20 Stela 18 
Stela 24 Stela 7 
Stela 25 Altar Pf 
Stela 15 Altar Q’ 
And of the 14 Fragments V’ now in the cabildo,! 12 were found in the excava- 
tion of this mound or built into the walls of houses or pavements in the 
immediate vicinity, as follows: 
Fragment V’ 1, north wall of the house of Domingo Hernandez. 
Fragment V’ 3, foundations of Stela 7 with fragment of Stela 24. 
Fragment V’ 4, excavations of the mound of Stela 7, 1919. 
Fragment V’ 6, excavations of the mound of Stela 7, 1918. 
Fragment V’ 7, excavations of the mound of Stela 7, 1919. 
Fragment V’ 8, excavations of the mound of Stela 7, 1919. 
Fragment V’ 9, west wall of the house of Pedro Ramirez. 
Fragment V’1o, pavement in front of house of Clementino Lopez. 
Fragment V’I1, excavations of the mound of Stela 7, 1919. 
Fragment V’1I2, excavations of the mound of Stela 7, 1919. 
Fragment V’13, south wall of the house of Clementino Lopez. 
Fragment V'14, chamber under foundation-stone of Stela 7. 
Taking into consideration the fact that Stele 20, 24, 25, and 15 are the 
four earliest stele yet recovered at Copan and, further, the greater abundance 
of archaic monuments here than at any other single place in the valley, and 
finally, that at least four and possibly five other archaic monuments, Altars 
L’ and M’ and Stele 21, 22, and 9, were found in the immediate vicinity, all 
probably are to be interpreted as indicating that Group 9, where the mound 
of Stela 7 is located, was the earliest center of intensive occupation in the 
valley. 
Returning now to the consideration of Stela 7, this monument was 
found to be 4.4 meters long, 79 cm. wide, and 65 cm. thick. The front is 
sculptured with a human figure of heroic proportions, front presentation, 
the back and sides being devoted to the inscription. This is the same 
arrangement of the design as on Stela 18, and Stela 7 may therefore be 
assigned to the same class, 7. ¢., 4. 
The text (see plate 13) opens with a large Initial Series introducing glyph 
in al-B3 and an Initial Series in a4—Béa, Bsa. This is expressed in head- 
variant numerals, all of which are very clear and record the date 9.9.0.0.0 
3 Ahau? 3 Zotz as follows. 
1All except Fragment V’ 14, which is in the Peabody Museum at Cambridge, Massachusetts, Catalogue 
number, C, 8543. 
2It is interesting to note that the variant of Ahau recorded here, the human head in profile, is not surrounded 
by the customary day-sign cartouche, although the tripod support is present. (See plate 13, B6a.) This is very 
unusual. 
