INSCRIPTIONS OF THE EARLY PERIOD. 125 
Stela 7 as early as 9.9.0.0.0. In the Middle Period Altars J’ and K’ were 
used in the foundations of Stela 10 as early as 9.11.0.0.0;! Fragment S’ in 
Mound 9g by 9.11.15.0.0, and Altar X in the foundations of Stela 5, by 
9.13.15.0.0 or 9.14.0.0.0. Possibly also Stela E and its altar may have been 
removed from Old Copan to their present positions about this time. 
Coming down to the Great Period, Altar A’ had certainly been reused 
in the Hieroglyphic Stairway before 9.16.5.0.0, and Stela P had probably 
been re-erected in the Western Court before 9.17.0.0.0. Similarly Altar Y 
had been reused in the foundations of Stela 4 and Stela g in the foundations 
of Stela 8 before 9.17.13.0.0. And finally, Stele 16, 17, and 21 can not be 
in situ where found, but must have come from some earlier group. 
Old Copan doubtless shared the fate of many another city of antiquity 
in becoming even in ancient times a quarry for later constructions. The 
monuments were always made of the best material available—selected 
stones—and it is not surprising, therefore, to find that they have been exten- 
sively reused in later constructions, particularly in places where large, heavy 
slabs were required, as in the foundation-stones for other stele. In the case 
of a few monuments like Stele E and P, too fine to be broken up and used as 
building material or in the foundations of later stele, they were removed to 
the Main Structure, which by the end of the Middle Period had in turn 
become the principal settlement in the valley, and were re-erected there. 
Classified according to the arrangement of their designs, the archaic 
stele may be arranged as follows: 
1. Stelz having inscriptions on one face only, the remaining three faces 
being plain: Stelz 22 and 25. 
2. Stele having inscriptions on two alternate faces, the remaining two 
faces being plain: Stelz 16, 17, and 24. 
3. Stela having inscriptions on all four faces: Stel 20, 15, 21, and 9. 
4. Stele having inscriptions on three faces, the fourth being carved with 
the representation of the human figure: Stela 18, 7, FE, and P. 
There would certainly appear to be some chronological sequence in the 
origins of these classes, as we have already seen, since the monuments of 
Classes 1, 2, and 3 clearly have earlier dates than those of Class 4. 
Turning to a more detailed consideration of the periodicity of the dates 
recorded, it will be found helpful if we first classify the monuments under 
observation into the two fairly obvious and generally recognized types— 
stele and altars. 
Confining our attention for the present to the former, it will be found 
by referring to the preceding pages that in spite of some differences in the 
presentation of their several inscriptions, all stele of the Early Period at 
Copan, with two possible exceptions’ have this one point in common—all 
record Initial Series. 

1The exact date of Stela 10 is 9.10.19.13.0 or 100 days earlier than 9.11.0.0.0. 
2Stelz 22 and 25 can hardly be regarded as exceptions to this statement, since each is too fragmentary to tell 
anything about what kind of a count had or had not been recorded upon it. 
