376 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
Altar T’ was found by the writer in 1916 on the edge of the first terrace 
above the flood-plain of the river, 0.5 kilometer southwest of the village at 
Group 10. (See plate 3.) It is a small drum-shaped stone 30 cm. high and 
49 cm. in diameter. The periphery is completely covered with four glyphs, 
one in each quadrant, and all alike. Above the glyph-band is a narrow plain 
border; the top and bottom are also plain. The glyphs show abundant 
traces of red paint. The glyph thus repeated four times appears to be the 
same grotesque head as that in the north gallery of 
Temple 18, probably the head of God B. (Com- 
pare figure 55 with plate 24, a.) We note the 
same upturned nose, filed front teeth, ear orna- ©) 
ment, fleshless lower jaw, and Imix-sign at the top © 
of the head, the latter somewhat differently treated, 
however. The only differences in fact are that @ 
here the coefficient is 9, as compared with 7 and © 
8 in Temple 18, and here the head has a super- 
fix wanting in the heads in Temple 18. This "© 55—P%t of scription on 
superfix, the writer believes, is the same as the 
one in the great-cycle glyphs on Stela 10 at Tikal, Stela N here at Copan, 
and on the tablet from the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque. Else- 
where he has suggested that this superfix increases the cycle-sign in a ratio 
of 20, 1. €., 20 144,000 = 2,880,000,! and if this is true elsewhere, it should 
have the same value here; but the meaning or value of the main ele- 
ment here is unknown. ‘The coefficient 9 recalls the cycle coefficient of the 
historic period, and if we could identify this grotesque head as a katun-sign, 
this superfix of 20 would raise it to the value of a cycle, and the 9 would then 
indicate the current cycle of the historic period. We could then explain the 
whole glyph as a novel synonym for Cycle 9. Bowditch figures a number of 
head-variant katun-signs (1910, plate 12), all of which show the prominent 
beak-like nose and a few the filed upper front tooth. None, however, shows 
the fleshless lower jaw. 
It does not appear advisable to press this interpretation farther, although 
it is interesting to note that it gives a plausible explanation for the coefficient 9. 
The date is of course undeterminable, except that on stylistic grounds it may 
be referred to the Great Period. 

ALTAR U’. 
Provenance: Found in 1916, in the patio of the house at the south- 
eastern corner of the village plaza. (Group 9). 
(See plate 3 and figure 22, n.) 
Date: The Great Period. 
Altar U’ was found by the writer in 1916 in the patio of the house at the 
southeastern corner of the village plaza, in which position it is near the base 
of the pyramid on the summit of which Altar S was found and from the 
1 Morley, 1915, pp. 120, 121. 
