IIo THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
The only other decipherable glyph on the north side of Stela E is c13 (see 
plate 14, b) which records some day Ahau. The day-sign itself 
’. 
Py 
is perfectly clear, but the coefficient is doubtful, there being ‘J 
either 1 or 2 bars and either 1, 2, or 3 dots. Close examination @ 
of the original led to the conclusion that there are probably 2 bars and 3 dots, 
and that the day recorded here is 13 Ahau. A possible explanation for the 
record of this particular day is that it stands for the Calendar Round date 
13 Ahau 18 Tzec, which is recorded on the opposite or south side of the stela. 
The first surely decipherable glyph on the south side is p10 (see plate 
14, c, third glyph-block from the top). This records the Calendar Round date 
13 Ahau 18 Tzec. Unfortunately the glyphs following this, particularly the 
last three, which might have shed some light on its corresponding position 
in the Long Count, are almost entirely effaced, except p12 |. h. which is 
clearly 9 Ahau, reason for the record of which here will appear later. 
Assistance failing from this source, it is still possible, however, to deter- 
mine at what positions this 13 Ahau 18 Tzec occurred in the Early Period. 
These will be found to have been as follows: 
S15 2i170 9.6.8.7.0 
9.3315.12.0 9.9.1.2.0 
Again we may eliminate the first two on the ground that they are too 
early to be consistent with the style of Stela E; but before attempting to 
decide between the last two, let us examine the continuation of this text, 
namely, the inscription on the accompanying altar. It should be noted, 
however, that 13 Ahau 18 Tzec is within 2 years of 10 Ahau 8 Uo, whereas 
it is separated from the other possible reading of the Initial Series terminal 
date, 10 Ahau 8 Zip, by nearly 20 years. A priori, therefore, 10 Ahau 
8 Uo is a better reading for the Initial Series than to Ahau 8 Zip. 
The altar of Stela EF is of the early drum-shaped variety;! as already 
noted (p. 108), it stands in the Great Plaza just at the base of the terrace on 
which Stela E now lies. So far as the writer knows, a reproduction of its 
text has never been published before. The fragments preserved, of which 
there are two, show that this altar, like the altars of Stele I, 1, 13, 19, and 
5, has glyphs inscribed around its periphery. (See plate 14, d.) 



1Spinden (1913, pp. 160, 161 and table 1) mentions 8 altars of this type, as follows: 
(1) The Altar of Stela 1 (5) The Altar of Stela I 
(2) The Altar of Stela 12 (6) The East Altar of Stela 5 
(3) The Altar of Stela 13 (7) The West Altar of Stela 5 
(4) The Altar of Stela E (8) Altar 14 
The writer, however, believes No. 2 is not an altar at all, but only a roughly rounded stone which served as 
the foundation-stone of Stela 12. It is, moreover, the only undecorated one of the eight, which further tends to 
support this view of is. 
And to these should be added another, the Altar of Stela 19 (No. 9), two fragments of which the writer found 
in 1915. All are of about the same general size, from 1.5 to 2 meters in diameter and from 0.5 to 0.75 meter in 
height. All are sculptured except No. 2; and with the exception of Nos. 2 and 8 all are inscribed with glyphs. 
Of the seven presenting inscriptions, No. 4 belongs to the Early Period and the other six to the Middle Period. 
Nos. 1, 6, and 7 record Initial Series; Nos. 3 and 5, Secondary Series; and Nos. 4 and 9 are incomplete. That 
the inscriptions on these altars are continuations of the inscriptions on the stela with which they were respec- 
tively associated seems probable. This is certainly true of No. 5, and almost certainly true of Nos. 3, 4, and 9. 
But the relationships between Nos. 1, 6, and 7, 1. ¢., the three presenting Initial Series, and their respective 
stele are not so clear, and there are grounds for believing that these last three altars originally may either have 
stood by themselves or have been associated with stelz other than those with which they are now found. 
