INSCRIPTIONS OF THE GREAT PERIOD. 387 
The beginning of the Great Period at Copan was characterized by a 
remarkable outburst of sculptural activity in the Great Plaza, where the 
first of the Great Period monuments, Stele A and B, were erected, followed 
by Stela D at the end of the next hotun. These monuments ushered in an 
era of elaboration in stone carving, the like of which had never been seen 
before in the city. Delicate details of relief were actually freed from the 
plinth, as in the undercutting of the feather-work in the head-dress of Stela 
B. Indeed, the sculptors of the day were at the Maya esthetic zenith. 
Skillful control of technical processes, developed through several centuries 
of continuous experience, coupled with lofty esthetic ideals, the result of 
increasingly beautiful art productions, had finally brought the Maya to their 
Golden Age, the accrued benefits of which they were now enjoying. 
Somewhat earlier than this, a tremendous project had been inaugurated, 
no less than the construction of the lofty pyramid known as Mound 26, and 
of the magnificent Hieroglyphic Stairway ascending its western side and the 
imposing temple on its summit. It is even possible that this construction 
may have been started as early as 9.13.17.18.9 in the Middle Period; but 
what is certain, however, is that its completion did not take place until 20 
years after the erection of Stela D in 9.15.5.0.0, and further, that after 
the dedication of Stela D probably all sculptors and masons in the city 
were transferred to the more important public works then in course of con- 
struction at the southern end of the Main Structure, namely, the Acropolis 
and the associated pyramids and temples. 
The Hieroglyphic Stairway in particular, with its many glyphs and 
elaborate decorative elements, human figures of heroic size, birds, serpents, 
etc., must have required a large number of skilled artisans for its execution; 
at all events, after Stela D there are no surely dated monuments until after 
the completion of the Hieroglyphic Stairway, Temple 26, and the dedication 
of Stela M at its base, in 9.16.5.0.0. 
The next hotun, 9.16.10.0.0, was marked by Stela N, and then came the 
period of maximum architectural, sculptural, and indeed cultural efflores- 
cence. For the next 20 years there followed a series of brilliant artistic 
achievements, intricately carved altars, gorgeously ornate stele, and mag- 
nificently embellished temples; the city was now rounded into its final form 
as found to-day, and became, in truth, the esthetic center of the Maya world. 
Coming to a more detailed consideration of the monuments, we note 
at the outset a considerable extension in the use of the hieroglyphic inscrip- 
tions. In addition to stele and altars, the latter greatly diversified in type, 
we now find texts inscribed upon hieroglyphic steps and stairways, both 
exterior and interior, door-jambs, and possibly even cornices.! This exten- 
sion of texts beyond the narrower field of stele and altars is of itself an indi- 
cation of “lateness,” and such inscriptions on this ground alone are to be 
1 Although no examples of hieroglyphic cornices have yet been reported at Copan, with the possible exception 
of Fragment Z’, pp. 378, 379, which is doubtful, one was found by the writer at the neighboring city of Quirigua in 
1912 (see Morley, 1913, pp. 347, 352); and it is highly probable that examples of it may yet be recovered at Copan. 
