338 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
monument immediately following, and tor the present we may accept the 
date of Altar T as 9.17.12.5.17 4 Caban Io Zip, the first katun anniversary 
of 9.16.12.5.17 6 Caban 10 Mol. 
FRAGMENT E?’. 
Provenance: Original position unknown. In 1885 was underneath 
Altar T in front of the large plain stela just west of 
the high mound at the southeastern corner of Group 
9. Now in the cabildo. (See plate 3 and fig. 22, ¢.) 
Date: 7.12.5.17 aban IOcip wy: 
Text, (a) photograph: Maudelay, 1889-1902, vol. 1, plate 119, a. 
(b) drawing: figure 48. 
Reference: Morley, 1917¢, p. 287. 
In Maudslay’s reproduction of the west side of Altar T (1889-1902, 
vol. 1, plate 119, a) there appears underneath this altar a block of stone, Frag- 
ment E’, carved with several glyphs. In the Maudslay plate this block is 
shown as upside down. 
The Peabody Museum photographs of Altar T, probably taken a 
decade later (Nos. 108 to 111), do not show this sculptured fragment; and 
indeed it is clear from them that Altar T itself had been shifted between the 
time Maudslay took his photographs (not later than 1885) and the time the 
Peabody Museum ones were taken, probably in 1894 or 1895. It has already 
been explained how Altar T was shifted from its original position in front of 
the plain stela at the southeastern corner of Group g in 1893, that is, after 
the Maudslay photograph was taken but before the Peabody Museum ones 
were taken. And since Fragment E’ appears in the former, but not in the 
latter, it probably disappeared when this shift was made, to be lost for 24 
years, built into the foundations of the house in the middle of the southern 
side of the village plaza. (See figure 22,H,eandf.) Thisis apparent not only 
from the disappearance of Fragment E’ during the decade between 1885 and 
1894-95, but also from the fact that Altar T itself is differently supported in 
the two sets of photographs. For example, in the Maudslay photographs the 
east side rests directly on the ground, the west or opposite side being sup- 
ported by a block of stone at each corner. In the Peabody Museum photo- 
graphs, on the other hand, all four corners of the altar are supported by 
blocks of stone, the monument standing clear of the ground. 
Finally, Maudslay describes the front of the altar as the north side in 
1885, and in the corresponding Peabody Museum photograph it is described 
as “the southwestern side.’’ It is evident, therefore, from the photographic 
record, even if we did not have the direct testimony of Maria Melendrez and 
Jacobo Madrid in support of the fact, that when Altar T was removed to 
the plaza in 1893, Fragment E’ disappeared. 
When the writer first visited Copan in 1910 this important fragment 
was still missing, and repeated searches in 1912, 1915, and 1916 failed to 
bring it to light. During his visit in 1917, however, it was found in the 
foundation of a house on the south side of the plaza, which was being torn 
down to make room for a new building. (See figure 22, H.) 
