340 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN, 
which has the same cycle and katun coefficients as the first of these two pos- 
sible readings for the Initial Series of 4 Caban 10 Zip. And of the three pos- 
sible values for its tun coefficient as determined by inspection the second, 12, 
is the same as the tun coefficient in the first reading suggested for 4 Caban 
10 Zip. ‘Together, therefore, these two monuments give not only the Initial 
Series of 4 Caban to Zip, but also that of the much more important date 6 
Caban 10 Mol, 1 katun earlier, Fragment E’ contributing the cycle, katun, 
and tun coefficients—enough to check by—and Altar T the terminal date. 
Aside from this important contribution to the chronology of Copan, 
Fragment E’ has the added distinction of being the latest Initial Series yet 
found there. It would appear to have been part of a step, perhaps of some 
temple, or possibly even part of an altar. The two ends are smooth, 1. ¢., not 
fractured, and have been dressed for close fitting against other blocks, as 
indeed the exigencies of the text demand. The great importance of this 
fragment lies in the fact that it gives the position of the first katun anni- 
versary of the date 6 Caban 10 Mol in the Long Count, and therefore of 6 
Caban 10 Mol itself as well, a fact postulated by the preceding monuments 
of this group, but here made reasonably sure for the first time. Before pre- 
senting a summary of the inscriptions recording this date, however, one other 
monument yet remains to be described, namely, Stela 8. 
STELA 8. 
Provenance: Now destroyed. Originally stood in the village 
cemetery I kilometer southwest of the village plaza, 
at Group 10. (See plate 3.) 
Date: 9-17-12.6.2 90: lke: Zip. 
Text, (a) photograph: plate 32. 
Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1, plate 109, a. 
(b) drawing: —_[bid., plate 109, a and b. 
References: Bowditch, 1910, p. 179. 
Gordon, 1896, p. 38. 
Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. I of text, p. 67. 
Spinden, 1913, p. 160 and table 1. 
Stela 8 formerly lay in the village cemetery, about half a mile southwest 
of the village plaza. A few months prior to Spinden’s visit in 1912, however, 
it was broken up, together with Stela 9, to serve as the foundation of a wall 
then in course of construction around the cemetery. Serious as this loss is, 
it is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the Peabody Museum secured 
excellent molds of both monuments some years prior to their destruction. 
Stela 8 was found by Owens in 1893 in the bush southwest of the village 
under circumstances of peculiar interest in view of its late date. Says 
Gordon in this connection: 
“It [Stela 8] seems to have stood upright supported on either side by two other 
stones of an equal size with it, but lying flat. One of these [Stela 9] had originally 
hieroglyphs on all four sides—two of these sides being well preserved, while the 
others are almost totally destroyed. ‘The same is true of [Stela] 8.’ 
1 Gordon, 1896, p. 38. 
