INSCRIPTIONS OF THE GREAT PERIOD. 341 
It should be noted in passing that Gordon is wrong in saying that 
Stela 8 was sculptured on all four sides. Maudslay distinctly states that it 
had inscriptions on two faces only;! and this was the writer’s conclusion 
when he examined the monument in 1910. The two broad faces were sculp- 
tured with glyphs and the narrow sides left plain, a reversion in arrangement 
to Class 2 of the Early Period. 
If Stela 8 was originally supported by Stela 9 and another plain slab 
(both visible in Maudslay’s photograph, zbid., 1889-1902, vol. 1, plate 109, a), 
we have here another clear case of secondary usage. We have already seen 
that other monuments of the Early Period—Stela 24 and Altars J’, K’, X, Y, 
and A’, for example—were reused in the foundations of later monuments; 
and it is not at all surprising, therefore, to find the same condition obtaining 
here. Stela 9 is a very early monument (9.6.10.0.0), and, as we shall 
presently see, Stela 8 is very late. It is not at all unlikely, in view of the 
other cases cited, that at the time Stela 8 was erected, more than 200 years 
after Stela 9, the latter had outlived its usefulness and was ready for the 
scrap-heap, hence its reuse in the foundations of this later monument. 
Each side of Stela 8 presents a panel of glyphs surrounding a decorative 
element, a sort of twisted rope, frequently seen on the monuments as far 
back as the beginning of the Early Period at Copan, on the fronts of Altars 
L’ and M’, for example. There are 4 columns of glyph-blocks, the first 
and fourth columns containing 7 each, and the second and third 3 each, 
making a total of 20 glyph-blocks on each side, or of 40 for the entire inscrip- 
tion. The decorative elements above mentioned occupy the space of the 
lower 4 glyph-blocks of the second and third columns. 
The inscription begins’? with the important date 6 Caban 10 Mol at 
Al, B1. (See plate 32, a.) This is followed in p1, a2 by the date 9 Ik 15 Zip. 
Maudslay incorrectly gives the day-sign as Ahau (2bid., 1889-1902, vol. 1 
plate 109, b), but this is obviously an error, since the month coefficient is 
clearly 15. An examination of the original, moreover, showed that Ik is 
the day-sign actually recorded. 
The presence of the day 9 Ik at pi and its corresponding month 15 Zip 
at A2 establishes the order of reading here as A1,B1, C1,D1, A2,B2, C2,D2, etc., 
instead of A1,B1, A2,B2, A3,B3, etc. This extremely unusual sequence was 
first pointed out by Bowditch, who reached his conclusions, however, from 
the date on the other side.’ 
We have already seen that the position of 6 Caban 10 Mol in the Long 
Count is surely 9.16.12.5.17. It remains, however, to fix the date 9 Ik 15 
Zip in its corresponding position. Referring to Goodman’s tables, it will 
be found that 9 Ik 15 Zip occurred but once in the Great Period, as follows: 
g.17.12.6.2, which is just 1 katun and 5 kins later than the first date on this 

1 Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1 of text, p. 67. 
2 Maudslay figures the other side first (1889-1902, vol. 1, plate 109, a). The calculations, however, show that 
the text begins on this side, 
3 Bowditch, 1910, p. 179. 
