INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MIDDLE PERIOD. 147 
Three pieces of Stela 23, the most distant of all the outlying monuments, 
were found by the writer in March 1916, built into the walls of the cabildo 
at Santa Rita or Cachapa (Group 1), 12 kilometers northeast of the Main 
Structure. It is probably the same monument as that mentioned by Maud- 
slay at this place: ““The small village of Cachapa, which is situated about 
seven miles up the river-valley to the northeast, also stands on the site of 
old buildings, and several pieces of stone with remains of hieroglyphic 
writing on them are still to be seen lying amongst the rubbish of the plaza.’”! 
From such information as was to be had from the villagers, these appear 
to have been placed in the walls of the cabildo about 30 years ago. Con- 
cerning its original provenance little could be learned, other than that it was 
found somewhere in the village. However, in the village plaza there is a large 
drum-shaped stone, 1.06 meters in diameter and 37 cm. high, which would 
seem to have been either the foundation-stone or altar of Stela 23. As it is 
without decoration, perhaps the former is the better explanation of its use; 
and to this we may add Maudslay’s testimony that there were several 
hieroglyphic fragments lying in the rubbish of the plaza in 1885. 
Santa Rita is built on the site of an ancient Maya settlement like the 
modern village of Copan, and similarly it has grown at the expense of the 
earlier group. Dressed stones are found in house-walls all over the village, 
and fragmentary sculptures, heads, torsos, and the like are scattered around 
the court yards of different houses. Mounds even may still be found within 
the limits of the village, and the ancient and modern plaza areas would appear 
to be coincident. In short, there is abundant evidence of the existence in 
former times of a not inconsiderable settlement here. 
When Stela 23 was broken it seems to have cracked into five large pieces, 
of which only three have been recovered—the top, third, and fourth fragments. 
Of the two missing pieces, only one had sculpture, however; the other, the 
bottom fragment, being the part that was embedded in the ground. The 
combined height of the three fragments recovered is I.70 meters, to which it 
seems necessary to add another half meter for the missing second piece. The 
monument must have thus stood at least 2.5 meters above ground and 
probably 3 meters. It is 61 cm. wide and 46 cm. in thickness. 
An exhaustive search of the village failed to disclose the present where- 
abouts of the missing sculptured piece. All the walls in the vicinity were 
examined, but without success. One old woman said she thought it had been 
broken up into smaller pieces and used in the foundations of the church, but 
she was not sure. “It had been a long time ago.” An examination of the 
church walls failed to confirm this story, although it may well be true. What 
the writer fears most is that it was broken into very small pieces and built 
into positions where the sculptured faces are either hidden or inconspicuous, 
as in the case of Altars L’ and M’ in the walls of the church at Copan village. 
The front is sculptured with a human figure side-view—the first, and 
with one other exception, Stela 11, the only example of a side presentation 


1Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1 of text, p. 16. 
