INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MIDDLE PERIOD. mies 
It can be found by calculation that there are only seven possible dates 
in Cycle 9 which fulfill all the given conditions, namely: 
(owe i441, 6:Chuen’” 9 Mol 
(2) 9715-14. 9:11 23\Chuen™ 9’ Mol 
(7) 50-14-'4.14. 10), 7.Chuens -9.Mol 
(4) 9.15.19. 2.11 5 Chuen’ 9g Mol 
ts) 9. G.19.12,11 2 Chuen 14 Mol 
(6) 9. 7.19.17.11 9 Chuen 14 Mol 
(7) 9.15.14. 1.11 5 Chuen 14 Mol 
Before choosing between these, let us continue the examination of our 
text, since it is obvious that none of the above dates can end hotuns of the 
Long Count, and, consequently, none are likely to have been the contem- 
poraneous date of this altar. 
Unfortunately the next glyph-block, £1, is entirely effaced, and the 
next five, Fi-G1, G2, are missing. The other half of the altar is very badly 
weathered, so that it is impossible to make out the details of any of the 
following glyphs: H1, H2-m1. Beginning with nib, however, they are some- 
what better preserved. 2d is a sign usually connected with the terminal 
dates of Secondary Series, and N2 is a Calendar Round date. In spite of some 
weathering here, the day 10 Ahau can clearly be distinguished in nza |. h., 
and the month 8 Yax or 8 Yaxkin in N2b._ Following this in o1a is an ending- 
sign, and in 010, the day 11, 12, or 13 Ahau. 
Although the hotun glyph itself is wanting, it is fair to infer from ante- 
cedent probability that this date 1o Ahau 8 Yax or to Ahau 8 Yaxkin ended 
some hotun of the Long Count. Referring to Goodman’s tables, it will be 
found that no hotun or even a tun ended on the former date, whereas not 
only a hotun, but a katun as well, ended on the latter, namely, 9.12.0.0.0 
1o Ahau 8 Yaxkin. Moreover, there are two other points in the original, 
which strongly indicate that the latter is the correct reading here: 
1. [he month-sign in N20 is almost certainly Yaxkin and not Yax. Not only 
do traces of the wing element appear to the nght, but also the upper 
point of the kin element may be distinguished just below the Yax 
element; and 
2. If the day in o10 is 12 Ahau, as seems probable, it would indicate the pre- 
ceding katun-ending, exactly as in the case of the East Altar of 
Stela 5, namely, 9.11.0.0.0 12 Ahau 8 Ceh. 
These several points taken together probably establish the date of this 
altar as having been 9.12.0.0.0 ro Ahau 8 Yaxkin. 
The next point to determine is the Initial Series of this altar, for which 
our preliminary inspection of the text gave us seven possible readings. 
Since the contemporaneous date of the monument is probably 9.12.0.0.0, 
all but the fifth and sixth readings above may probably be eliminated, as 
they are from 14 to 74 years later than the hotun this altar was erected to 
commemorate. But in addition to this, all of them are open to one or more 
other serious objections which, even in the absence of the one just given, 
would otherwise eliminate them. 
