140 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
So far as the writer is aware, the ends of uinals are never recorded 
as Period Ending dates, and for this reason alone, if for no other, the reading 
9.13.0.10.0 13 Ahau 8 Ceh is open to serious question. Its rejection, however, 
rests on firmer grounds, as we have already seen, and there is no doubt but 
that the same hotun-ending is recorded here as that on the corresponding 
side of Stela 12, namely, 9.11.0.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Ceh. 
But there are other resemblances between the inscriptions on Stele 12 
and 2, as the following comparison will show: 
Stela 2. Stela 12. 
B3a Katun coefficient 10, head-variant numeral B3a_ the same 
B4D Uinal-sign represented as a full-figure variant B4b the same 
Asb Kin-sign with banded head-dress Asb_ the same 
BS 6 Ahau, head-variant numeral and profile head Bs the same 
day-sign 
B7a.u. h. Glyph A of the Supplementary Series with a coefh- Bg the same 
cient of 10 
Csb 12 Ahau Cro the same 
c6a 8 Ceh Dio the same 
c6b End of cir the same 
c7a Katun II Dir the same 
Even such details as the ending-signs, 7. ¢., cob and c11 respectively, and 
the coefficients of Glyph A of the Supplementary Series, 7. ¢., B7a u. h., and 
Bg, respectively, are identical in both texts. But we have already seen that 
the Initial Series of Stela 12 records the date 9.10.15.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Mac, and 
since the Initial Series of Stela 2 supports this reading so far as it goes, it 
seems not unlikely, in view of these other close similarities, that this was also 
the Initial Series of Stela 2. 
As to which of the two dates recorded on Stela 2, 7. ¢., 9.10.15.0.0 and 
9.11.0.0.0, was its contemporaneous date, further discussion of this point 
will be deferred until after the descriptions of Stele 10, 19, 23, 13, and 3. The 
inscription on Stela 2 1s composed of 19+11+11=41 glyph-blocks, the 
Initial Series introducing glyph occupying the space of 4 glyph-blocks. 
An interesting side-light on technical limitations in stone carving at 
Copan is afforded by this monument. In the Initial Series introducing glyph, 
just to the left and a little below the variable central element, there appears 
a large circle without interior decoration. (See plate 18.) In the original 
this is a large inclusion of harder volcanic rock, which the ancient sculptors 
found themselves unable to carve, probably because their chisels were made 
of the same material or of one no harder. 
The best they were able to accomplish in this direction was to reduce 
the inclusion so that it was flush with the face of the stela; and no attempt 
appears to have been made to carry the design across its refractory surface. 
On the contrary, the inclusion appears to have influenced the design. The 
element to the right and slightly above it is a head facing to the right. Further 
examination shows this head is the variable element of the Initial Series 
introducing glyph. So far as the writer knows, this is the only instance on 
record of a head in this position facing to the right, all others facing to the left. 
