200 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
North Side, az End of 1 tun 
B2, A3a End of 2 tuns 
B3 End of 3 tuns 
B4 End of 4tuns — ending-sign in B4d u. h. doubtful. 
Asb, Bs End of 5 tuns_ end of a hotun 
A6 End of 6 tuns 
A7 End of 7 tuns 
B7b, ASa End of 8 tuns 
B&D End of gtuns cia u. h. effaced, probably an “ending- 
sign 
South Side, pr |. h., cz End of to tuns — end of a lahuntun 
D2 End of 11 tuns 
End of 12 tuns apparently no “ending-sign”’ 
C61 h2s6 pleas 
End of 13 tuns 
End of 14 tuns 
End of 15 tuns 
end of a hotun 
C7 End of 16 tuns 
CB ian: Effaced probably recorded end of 17 tuns 
Ds u. h. Effaced probably recorded end of 18 tuns 
It is clear from the context that the inscription on the south side is a 
continuation of the inscription on the north side and that the one follows the 
other without break or interruption. It is also clear from a preliminary 
inspection of the text that we have here a record of 16 and perhaps 17 or 
even 18 consecutive tuns, but what is the position of these tuns in the Long 
Count? Where were they counted from? What was their starting-point, 
and why were there probably 18 of them? 
It will be noted in the foregoing summary that the glyph denoting 
“the end of 5 tuns,” asd, 7. ¢., the fifth in the above series, is followed by a 
glyph denoting “the end of a hotun,” Bs; and further, that the glyph 
expressing “the end of 15 tuns,” col. h., is also followed by this same 
hotun-ending sign, pe |. h. This association of the glyph denoting 
“the end of a hotun” with glyphs recording the ends of the fifth and 
fifteenth tuns, respectively, and with no others, would at first sight appear 
to indicate that this series of tuns was counted either from a katun or a 
lahuntun-ending, and probably from the former, since immediately following 
“The end of to tuns,’” c2 |. h., which, of course is both a lahuntun- 
ending and a hotun-ending as well, is the following sign, aie) which 
is identical with Glyph 24 (Maudslay’s numeration) on the Use@z west 
side, already identified as a possible variant of the lahuntun-sign. On the 
other side of this stela, as we have already seen, this glyph follows immediately 
after the date 7 Ahau 3 Cumhu, which the Initial Series on the east side, as 
will appear later, declares to have been 9.13.10.0.0 7 Ahau 3 Cumhu. There- 
fore, in order to have the tenth tun in the series, bring the count forward to 
this date, 7 Ahau 3 Cumhu “End of a lahuntun,”’ it is necessary to have this 
count start from the katun-ending 9.13.0.0.0 8 Ahau 8 Uo. 
But there is another explanation which is possible here, to account for 
the record of the hotun-signs and lahuntun-sign in Bs, peo |. h., and c2 
respectively, which, moreover, explains why the unusual number of 18 tuns, 
otherwise of no particular significance to the Maya, should have been 

