INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MIDDLE PERIOD. T55 
STELA 3, 
Provenance: In the Middle Court south of Mound 4 at the Main 
Structure. (See plate 6.) 
Date: 9.11.0,0.0'+ 12. Ahau8 Ceh,} 
Text, drawing: plate 19, a and b. 
Spinden, 1913, plate 19, 3 (front only). 
References: Gordon, 1896, pp. 35, 36. 
Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1 of text, p. 66. 
Spinden, 1913, pp. 159, 164, and table 1. 
Stephens, 1841, vol. 1, p. 149. 
Stela 3 is 4.30 meters long, 95 cm. wide, and 1.07 meters thick. It now 
lies near the center of the Middle Court, some distance south of the south- 
eastern corner of Mound 4, broken into three pieces.” Originally it seems to 
have been supported by a roughly worked drum-shaped foundation-stone, 
which is still 7m situ. 
No chamber was found under this foundation-stone, but instead, under 
the three layers of narrow oblong stones on which it rested, there was a pocket 
of pigments of different colors; in this were found four nephrite heads, each 
carved with a representation of the human face, well executed and highly 
polished. These had been pierced longitudinally, so that they could be sus- 
pended on a string and used as pendants.’ 




eC 
QA 
CY ok )) 





Sc PS? 
BS Bx 2 osy 
mee OF! 
Fic. 27.—Inscription on collar of Stela 3: a, one side complete; 2, c, ¢, f, remains of glyphs 
on ends; d, glyph in center of side opposite a. 
At the level of the ground, the base of the monument was surrounded 
by a sculptured stone collar of four pieces. (See figure 27.) This presents 
the familiar knotted-band decoration so prevalent in the Early and Middle 
Periods at Copan. The centers of the front and back are each occupied by a 
single large glyph (figure 27, a and d), and the two ends of each side by 
smaller glyphs (figure 27, b, c, e, and f), making a total of 6 for the entire 
collar. One of the single glyphs, c, looks like Ahau, although this identifica- 
tion is by no means certain. The ends of the long sides terminate in large, 
grotesque serpent-heads, probably a development of the flanking serpent- 


1For other monuments recording this same hotun-ending, see Appendix VIII. 
2When Stephens first saw this stela in 1839 it was fallen but does not appear to have been broken: “ This statue 
is fallen and the face destroyed” (1841, vol. 1, p. 149). He calls it Statue K. See Appendix III. 
3Gordon, 1896, p. 36. 
