252 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
believes occurs at Md, Na Step Q, but this as we have already seen is 12 Oc. 
The second he sees at B, Step R, but this is 7 Ahau 13 Tzec, as will appear 
in connection with Date 13. 
Aside from the actual disagreements which his readings present with the 
text as recorded, his dates must be rejected on the grounds of extreme his- 
toric improbability, if indeed not impossibility. The reading suggested here, 
on the other hand, is within less than a katun of the date on the monument, 
which Gordon himself admits was probably correlated with the Hieroglyphic 
Stairway, namely, Stela M.! 
Dates 12 anv 13. 
Step Q opens with the month-sign and coefficient 13 Pop, its correspond- 
ing day possibly being the missing glyph T at the right end of the preceding 
step (P). Passing over this fragmentary date (Date 12) for the moment, let 
us examine the next calculation, L, Step Q. Here is a Secondary Series com- 
posed of 6.5.10 and in Md a day-sign with the coefficient 12. (See figure 38, ¢.) 
The day-sign is a grotesque head not unlike the sign for Oc at oa on Step P. 
Following along through the inscription, no more glyphs of a calendary 
nature are found until we reach the second glyph-block, B, on the next step, 
R, where the date 7 Ahau 13 Tzec is recorded (see figure 38, g), followed 
by a well-known hand ending-sign in p. By counting backward 6.5.10 from 
7 Ahau 13 Tzec, the date reached will be found to be 12 Oc 13 Pop, and we 
have just seen that this month was in fact the first glyph on Step Q, and a 
day 12? is actually recorded in Md on the same step immediately following 
6.5.10. The next question is, what positions in the Long Count did these 
two Calendar Round dates occupy? 
In solving this question, it should be borne in mind that these dates 
are probably to be looked for first in the vicinity of 9.15.12.10.10 10 Oc 3 
Cumhu, the nearest Initial Series to them. By calculation it can be shown 
that 7 Ahau 13 Tzec occurred nearest 9.15.12.10.10 at 9.15.11.16.0, less than 
a year earlier (250 days). Counting 6.5.10 backward from this date, the 
Initial Series corresponding to 12 Oc 13 Pop will be found to have been 
9.15.5.10.10, as follows: 
Date 13. 9.15.11.16. 0 7 Ahau 13 Tzec 
6. 5.10 backward 
Datel2) 79.15, '5-10;16 #12 Uciistron 
And this value for Date 12, moreover, is further corroborated by being 
just 7 tuns earlier than Date 11: 
O.DR eel 010g elt OC tL Tenn 
(7. 0. ©) not declared 
9.15.12.10. tow e1o.0c tiflomne 
A summary of Dates 11, 12, and 13 follows: 
Step P K-04, R4-9.15.12.10.10 100c 3 Cumhu — (Date 11) 
Step P (7. 0. ©) not declared 
Steps PandQ Tf,a,Mb 9.15. 5.10.10 12 Oc 13 Pop (Date 12) 
Step Q L 6. 5.10 
Step R B O.16.11.10.30 7 Ahau 13 Tzec = (Date 13) 
Step R D Ending 

1 Gordon, 1902, p. 164. 
