358 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
that monument. If this is also true of Stela 4, its contemporaneous date 
was 9.17.12.13.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax, 7.¢., 1 Calendar Round later than 9.15.0.0.0 
4 Ahau 13 Yax. Moreover, if this is the case, the last glyph in the text has a 
peculiar significance otherwise wanting. 
The lower three-fourths of the last glyph on the bottom part of the 
monument is effaced; but the upper part is very clearly the coefficient 13. 
Now, the current tun in which 9.17.12.13.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax fell ended ona day 
13 Ahau and was also a Tun 13, viz, 9.17.13.0.0 13 Ahau 13 Muan.  Bi0d, 
therefore, may possibly indicate either of these facts.? 
Stela 4 can not possibly have been made as early as 9.15.0.0.0, and was 
certainly made after Stela H (9.17.12.0.0). The style and arrangement, 
however, are such as to strongly indicate that it was executed only shortly 
thereafter; and the date 9.17.12.13.0 seems to fit it in every way. 
_ With this monument the long series of stele at Copan comes to an end. 
But before proceeding to describe the few remaining monuments, all smaller 
and apparently less important, it is first necessary to discuss the contempo- 
raneous dates of Stele C, H, F, and 4 and their relative positions in the 
stylistic sequence, and finally to point out the chronological interrelation- 
ships between them. At the same time, the reasons for arranging them in 
the chronological order suggested will be made clear and the correctness of 
this sequence established. 
The pioneer work of Spinden on the stylistic sequence of the monuments 
at Copan and the established reliability of his stylistic criteria are sufficient 
reasons for quoting him im extenso on this point: 
“T do not believe there is the slightest doubt concerning the artistic order of 
Stela A, B, D, M, N, and H. Beyond this last one, however, we are somewhat 
at sea. The artists had then become so skillful that few actual improvements were 
open to them, and most of the changes result from vogue and increased individuality. 
“In writing my memoir, when it came to the actual presentation of evidence, 
I was careful not to force too far the distinctions which seemed to be best explained 
by improvements from year to year in the sculptor’s art. New fashions were intro- 
duced and developed; new opportunities were discovered and improved. There 
are indisputable developments along several lines, but when two or three monu- 
ments that naturally fall close together are concerned it is not always wise to 
attempt to place each in its proper relation to the others. In the case of the much 
mooted final group comprising Stela C, H, F, and 4, the evidences of sequence are 
not altogether lacking, although the differences in subject render it difficult to 
supply any simple test. 

1 Tt is equally true, of course, that the next tun after 9.15.0.0.0 4 Ahau 13 Yax also ended ona day 13 Ahau 
viz, 9.1§.1.0.0 13 Ahau 8 Yax, but in this latter case the next tun was a Tun 1, not a Tun 13. Moreover if 
g.15.0.0.0 were the date of this monument, it would have been contrary to Maya practice in such matters to carte 
the count forward from an even katun-ending in their chronological system, to a tun-ending. On the other hand 
if 9.17.12.13.0 were the date of Stela 4, there was a decided point in recording the current tun-ending, not oaly 
because it ended on a day 13 Ahau, but also because it was a Tun 13 itself. The ancient Maya undoubtedly 
attached some unusual importance to a Tun 13 from the very earliest times down almost to the close of the New 
Empire. For example, the following early Tuns 13 are recorded at Tikal, Uaxactun, and Palenque: 9.2.13.0.0 
(Stela 3, Tikal); 9.3.13.0.0 (Stela 3, Uaxactun), and 9.8.13.0.0 (Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque). The 
practice seems to have carried over unto Yucatan, where the writer has found examples of it at Chichen Itza 
11.7.13.0.0 (Temple of the Two Lintels); Holactun (Xcalumkin) 10.9.13.0.0 or 11.2.13.0.0 (Temple of the Incl 
Series); and Labna, 11.8.13.0.0 or 12.1.13.0.0 (?) (the Palace). (See plate 1.) 
