270 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
not in situ. It is therefore a matter of first importance to determine the 
original position of this section fg in the stairway. 
It has already been shown that the dates of the early group probably were 
inscribed on the lower half of the stairway; if this is true, section fg, figure 
37, must have come from the upper half, but if so, from what part? 
Gordon says that in its downward course the top step of this section, M, 
(g, figure 37) came to rest at a point 17 meters from the ground below, 
presumably measured on the slope.’ Section fg occupied some 5 to 6 meters 
on the slope of the original stairway, and, as we have seen, in all probability 
came from somewhere in the upper half. Its topmost step, M, therefore 
(found 17 meters above the ground) must have slipped down at least 7 or 
8 meters. That is, Step M originally came from at least 5 or 6 meters above 
the half-way point, which was itself 19 meters above the ground; conse- 
quently Step M must have slipped at least 7 or 8 meters. ‘The first date in 
this section, No. 11, on Step P, is also the latest known on the stairway. 
This fact alone may indicate that it came from near the top, but to answer 
this question it is necessary to ascertain how near the top Step M stood. 
The date on which the stairway was completed or, perhaps better, dedi- 
cated, that is, put into formal use, as will be explained later, was probably 
g.16.5.0.0, some 12 years later than Date 11; but we may doubtless suppose 
that other later dates very near the top of the stairway, and thus the last 
to be inscribed, bridged this gap. 
If the same proportion of Initial Series steps to non-Initial Series steps 
obtains for the upper half of the stairway as that suggested for the lower, 
we may perhaps say section fg, figure 37, came from the lower part of the 
upper half of the stairway, 7.¢., from position xy. Indeed, weighing all the 
evidence, how far this section chit have fallen without the blocks losing 
their relative positions, the number of Initial Series found, and finally the 
character of the dates, the writer regards it as probable that section fg 
originally stood just above the middle of the stairway. 
That the Initial Series of the later group should be classed together on 
stylistic grounds, as well as on the basis of chronologic proximity and prob- 
able proximity of position, is apparent from the following stylistic analysis 
of their glyphs: 
1. Treatment of the Initial Series introducing glyph.—All of the same type. 
Tun element late form, two main lines of tun-sign, parallel and hori- 
zontal. Single-line elements in bottom. 
2. Arrangement.—Usually the same, each period occupying a full glyph-block. 
3. Coefficients. —Usually the same, Bere and-dot numerals, rarely head-variants, 
sometimes above, sometimes to the left. 
4. Period-glyphs.—Always head-variants. 
A comparison of these characteristics with those of the glyphs of the early 
group on page 268 will show that the division into two groups on stylistic 
grounds is amply justified. 


1 Gordon, 1902, p. 154. 
