INSCRIPTIONS OF THE GREAT PERIOD. 273 
founded, probably by emigrants from Copan, and shortly after its foundation 
it again came into contact with the mother-city in such a way as to have 
occasioned comment on the monuments of both. 
This important date will bear further elaboration. The writer has shown 
elsewhere (Morley, 1915, pp. 239, 240) that 9.14.13.4.17 12 Caban 5 Kayab 
is the earliest date at Quirigua which it is safe to regard as referring to an 
event in the history of the city.! It is, moreover, the earliest date on four 
different monuments there, Stele J, F, and E, and Zodmorph G, being re- 
corded on Stele F and E as the Initial Series. The second katun anniver- 
sary of this date, 9.16.13.4.17 8 Caban 5 Yaxkin, is also recorded as an Initial 
Series on Stela D. In short, four of the fourteen large monuments at Quiri- 
gua are clearly connected with this date, and a fifth with its second katun 




anniversary. (See the accompanying table, where X signifies the presence 
of the corresponding date to the left, on each monument.) 
| 
Date. Stela J. Stela F. | Stela E. | Zodmorph G. | Stela D. 
Retin tat 7 1t2:Cabanes Kayabs.os. ee, a0: Xx Xx x 5a PAN ee ae 
nee Nee AMARC IUS YAN ce veutctse tet [ie ete cos es - x Be (Pal ho mi cies Oa tires ae aee 
Gees oo. Ovo Akan 8 Chen so. \..0 9h. 5. ok ane, ae Re A SENG Pitre ak SRLS TBA at le cheat 
epee Getar OG Cimd £1 2e¢.. 505 ec cs x Xx x Se a est k 
Bieeio. On Os Anau 9 Mol... nice. oS. Rese Rd Be a eat) HR Sea eo eae Ugo eee 
PG o uae © LOAN eY 8 LOZ... 656k cee oes Pee Cae PLETE icine VAG IO A s/o. g suds cas ZN > ave. alchs ars 
Beto G MOC MELE A Mall 3 L1P.. sce cs. 54 bes ve e3 aes SMM A HPP PIE (Pe RT eA ce. roche wie ee ke 
Bor Oe a 2 es ee x 
Peet ee ee FMRI SPE OPY nate yi oh HAs ce. sa ctan Ls wA | Sine itie ee olde are ec ress chem eww mastered e « Xx 
eee aeace ag nhariie Combhys i... 64 icfe cg s occa] ssw sc asas pee Wes Wes a ae ee ee 
he BOISE SS ee oe en) or. [eee ad I seis 








From this table it appears that, having started with this date, a Secondary 
Series in each case brings the count forward to the date 9.15.6.14.6 6 Cimi 
4 Tzec, which we have seen is the same as Date 23 of the Hieroglyphic 
Stairway. Thelatter mustindeed refer to an important event of ancient Maya 
history in order to have found its way into the records of both cities. But 
what was its nature? Was it some extraordinary astronomical phenomenon, 
or does it signalize some particularly vital point of historical contact be- 
tween the two cities? Since 9.14.13.4.17 is the earliest historical date at 
Quirigua, the writer has assumed it may indicate the foundation of the city. 
But if so, why should a second date, some thirteen years later, have been so 
conspicuously memorialized? As yet we can not say. Indeed, the most 
we may venture in this connection is to note the fact that it was sufficiently 
important to have been recorded at both cities. 

1 There are only two earlicr dates at Quirigua, both on Stela C, 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, and 9.1.0.0.0 6 
Ahau 13 Yaxkin. The former is certainly hypothetical, being some 3,500 years before the first histcric epoch of 
the Maya civilization. Indeed, it is nothing more than the record of the starting-point of the Maya chronological 
system, a purely hypothetical date. (See Morley, 1915, pp. 60-62.) The second date is nearly 300 years earlier 
than the earliest monument now known at Quirigua, and for this reason it can hardly refer to an event which took 
place during the occupation of the city. It is possible, on the other hand, that it refe1s to some earlier event in 
the history of the tribe or nation who built Qui1igua, which had occurred a long time pricr to the actual foundation 
of the city, and is, in fact, only 10 years older than the oldest possible date at Copan, namely 9.1.10.0.0 on 
Stela 20. 
