396 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
of intersecting bands, but later these disappear, and during the Middle 
Period and early in the Great Period the altars of this class are plain. Still 
later the designs become more elaborate, consisting of seated human and 
animal figures, death-heads, grotesque heads, toads, double-headed mon- 
sters, and even the human figure. Class 2 altars are the commonest type 
of altar at Copan. 
The round altar (Class 3) is first found at the close of the Early Period 
in 9.9.5.0.0 and lasted down to 9.18.0.0.0, having its greatest development 
in the Middle Period. 
The irregular-shaped altar (Class 4) is a development of the Great 
Period, 9.17.0.0.0, and persisted down to the end, 9.18.10.0.0. 
~The above classification of the altars at Copan, while not so satisfactory 
as that of the stele, shows nevertheless considerable evidence of the chron- 
ologic order of the classes, the rectangular altars appearing first in the 
Early Period, the round altars appearing next at the end of the Early Period, 
reaching their greatest development in the Middle Period, and the irregular- 
shaped altars appearing last in the Great Period, a consistent development 
conforming with the increasing complexity of sculptural art as the Old 
Empire advanced. 
In addition to the two foregoing types of monuments, stele, and altars, 
the inscriptions at Copan are presented upon steps, both interior and exte- 
rior, stairways, wall-panels, both interior and exterior, and possibly even cor- 
nices, but the last-mentioned medium, with the exception of the Hieroglyphic 
Stairway, is a late development, not appearing until the Great Period, 
at which time Maya art was at its zenith and the Maya sculptors were 
literally reaching out in all directions for new fields in which to express their 
esthetic feelings. 
PROBABLE FUNCTION OF THE MAYA MONUMENTS. 
From this study of the Copan inscriptions, it appears possible to indi- 
cate, in a general way at least, the probable function of the Maya monu- 
ments. At first, and during the period before Copan was founded, the mon- 
uments would appear to have been erected to commemorate specific events, 
such as actual historical happenings or current astronomical phenomena, 
examples of which are the Tuxtla Statuette, the Leyden Plate, and Stela 9 at 
Uaxactun, dating from 8.6.2.4.17, 8.14.3.1.12, and 8.14.10.13.15 respectively. 
Very early, however, possibly shortly after the beginning of Cycle 9, 
if the writer’s reading of 9.0.10.0.0 for Stela 8 at Tikal is correct, and cer- 
tainly by 9.1.10.0.0 or 9.2.10.0.0, when the first stela was erected at Copan, 
this custom changed, and thereafter, instead of erecting monuments to com- 
memorate such events, which in the very nature of the case had to be after 
the events had taken place, the practice was introduced of erecting the 
stele on the very days the events took place, namely, at the expiration of 
successive divisions of the Long Count. 
