178 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
of cylindrical shape and decorated with representations of the human figure, 
which are now in the Peabody Museum at Cambridge.! 
The associated altar is of the drum-shaped type and stands directly 
in front of the stela. It has a single band of glyphs which extends clear 
around the periphery. 
The text on the stela opens with an Initial Series introducing glyph in 
Al-B2, and the corresponding Initial Series number follows in a3—Bs, As. 
This records the date 9.12.3.14.0 5 Ahau 8 Uo as follows: 
A1-B2 Initial Series introducing glyph 
A3 g cycles 
B3 12 katuns 
Aq 3 tuns 
B4 14 uinals 
AS o kins 
BS 5 Ahau 
A8 (8 Uo) effaced 
It is all clear, with the exception of the month-part (as), which is 
unfortunately effaced. 
The north side of the monument opens with the date 10 Ahau 13 Yax, 
Chen, Zac, or Ceh (c1), the uncertainty as to the month-sign arising from 
the effacement of its prefix. These four dates occurred in Cycle 9 nearest 
the Initial Series of this monument as follows: 
9.12.7.4.0 10 Ahau 13 Chen. g.12.19.9.0 10 Ahau 13 Zac 
9.11.7.0.0° 10 Ahau-13 Yax g.11.19.5.0 10 Ahau 13 Ceh 
Of these, only two, the second and fourth, appear to have anything 
which may be urged in their favor. For example, the second, 9.11.7.0.0, 
ends a tun of the Long Count, always a recommendation for any date. The 
last, however, 9.11.19.5.0, 1s not only the nearest to the Initial Series, but is 
also exactly 1 tonalamatl, or 260 days, before the nearest katun-ending 
(g.12.0.0.0), for which reasons it has been selected in preference to the others. 
In co there is a distance-number composed of 10.8, the kin-coefficient 
being expressed in a very unusual manner If this is counted for- 
ward from 10 Ahau 13 Ceh, the date reached will be 10 Lamat 16 
Zotz. The day 10 Lamat is recorded in c7a very clearly, but c7b 
is not 16 Zotz or any month-sign in fact, and it is evident that the month- 
sign has been suppressed here. The remaining glyph-blocks on this side are 
effaced. Using the Initial Series suggested above for 10 Ahau 13 Ceh, the 
Initial Series of 10 Lamat 16 Zotz may be calculated therefrom as follows: 

g.11.19. 5.0 10 Ahau 13 Ceh 
10.8 
9.11.19.15.8 10 Lamat 16 Zotz 
This distance-number is just four-fifths of a tonalamatl, and brings the 
count up to within one-fifth of a tonalamatl (52 days) of a katun-ending. 
Because of this coincidence, which could hardly be accidental, and because 

1 Gordon, 1896, p. 36. 
