220 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
It is perhaps too early to offer a conjecture as to the cause of this all- 
engulfing social catastrophe. A number of hypotheses have been advanced 
which are reviewed in Chapter V. For the present it is sufficient to note 
that just before the close of Cycle 9, about 9.18.10.0.0, architectural and 
sculptural activity ceased at Copan, and shortly afterward the city was 
probably abandoned, the inhabitants migrating elsewhere. 
The monuments of the Great Period, as would naturally be expected, 
are much more numerous than those from either the Early or Middle Period, 
or indeed from both combined; more than half of the texts at Copan—45 
out of the 89 examined in this monograph—dating from the closing century 
of the city’s occupation, 9.15.0.0.0 to 10.0.0.0.0. These 45, moreover, 
include only such monuments as have inscriptions, but if all the uninscribed 
sculptures of the Great Period were included in the above total, this pre- 
ponderance would be greatly increased. 
In the Early and Middle Periods we have seen that the hieroglyphic 
inscriptions were presented exclusively upon stele and altars. In the Great 
Period, however, in addition to the monuments we will find texts inscribed 
upon architectural members as well, such as stairways, cornices, wall-panels, 
and door-jambs, for example. 
Steps and even long stairways were favorite media for glyphic treatment 
here and elsewhere.' The Hieroglyphic Stairway on the western slope of 
Mound 26 (see plate 6), containing upwards of go steps and about 2,500 
glyphs, is by far the longest text in the Corpus Inscriptionum Mayarum. 
Other media which present inscriptions are door-jambs, door-lintels, piers, 
columns, wall-tablets, and cornices. Of these, however, only inscribed door- 
jambs and possibly a cornice (Fragment Z’) have been found at Copan.? 
The first sculptures of the Great Period, Stele A, B, and D, are found in 
the Great Plaza. This is the largest court in the city, and was probably 
completed some time shortly before 9.15.0.0.0. At least, the earliest monu- 
ments in situ in the Great Plaza, except Stela I, date from that hotun. 
During the 20 or 25 years after Stela 5 was erected at Group 8 (see plate 3), 
the terraces surrounding the Great Plaza were probably completed, and 
shortly before 9.15.0.0.0 the sculptors and stone-masons of the city were 
again at liberty to devote themselves to the making of stele and altars. 
Their first efforts in this direction were probably Stele A and B and their 
respective altars, with which monuments the Great Period begins. 

1 Hieroglyphic steps have also been found at Quirigua, Structure 1 (Morley, 1913, pp. 352, 353, and drawing, 
p. 356, and Hewett, 1912, p. 165); Seibal, Mound of Stela 5, 6, and 7 (Maler, 1908, p. 20); Naranjo, Structure 16 
(Maler, 19084, pp. 91-93); Yaxchilan, Structure 5 (Maler, 1903, p. 122), and. Palenque, Palace Group, House C 
(Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1v of text p. 16). 
2 Inscribed wooden lintels have been found at Tikal and inscribed stone lintels at Naranjo, Yaxchilan, Piedras 
Negras, El Chicozapote, and El Cayo. Hieroglyphic piers, columns, and wall-tablets have been found at Palenque 
and Holactun, and the writer himself excavated an inscribed cornice at Quirigua. (See plate 1.) The record 
of inscriptions upon architectural members greatly enriched the effect of Maya facades, and in some cases is directly 
responsible for their striking appearance. 
