420 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
Beginning with the surely deciphered group, it has been shown in 
Chapter II that every one records a hotun-ending,! and that all but one, 
Stela E, a second or fourth hotun-ending, that is, a lahuntun or a katun- 
ending. Moreover, of the remaining 7, at least 4 (Stele 20, 25, 17, and 18), 
also probably recorded katun or lahuntun-endings. 
This important practice of erecting stele at the expiration of second 
and fourth hotuns, 7. ¢., lahuntun and katun-endings respectively, is encoun 
tered foi the first time here at Copan in 9.1.10.0.0 or 9.2.10.0.0, and at the 
expiration of first and third hotuns in 9.9.5.0.0, although the latter custom 
appears 10 years earlier in 9.8.15.0.0 at Piedras Negras (Stela 25), and by 
the Middle Period is found everywhere in the Old Empire. 
Because of this fact, and also because all of the surely dated early monu- 
ments elsewhere (see p. 411), the Tuxtla Statuette, the Leyden Plate, 
Stele 9 and 3 at Uaxactun, and Stele 3, 10, and 17 at Tikal, were not 
erected on hotun, lahuntun, or katun-endings, it appears reasonable to infer 
that this important custom, which in one form or another survived until 
the close of the New Empire in 1541 in northern Yucatan, a period of more 
than I,200 years, may have originated at Copan as early as 9.1.10.0.0 and 
spread elsewhere from here.’ 
If the 13 stele of the Early Period at Copan, all record lahuntun or 
katun-endings except Stela E, which records a third hotun-ending, let us 
ascertain how many lahuntuns and katuns there were between the dates of 
the earliest and latest of these monuments. 
Between 9.1.10.0.0 (Stela 20) and 9.9.10.0.0 (Stela P) inclusive, there 
are 17 lahuntuns and katuns, for which we have only 12 stele, exclusive of 
Stela E; that is, apparently 5 or 6 are still missing. An attempt has been 
made in the following list to assign 10 of these 12 stele to these 17 period- 
endings, the monuments marked (?) probably being correctly deciphered as 
given, those marked (??) being very doubtful. Stela 25 probably records the 
same lahuntun-ending as Stela 24; and it is impossible to say exactly where 
Stela 16 belongs, probably somewhere between 9.4.10.0.0 and 9.7.10.0.0. 
Stela 20, 9.1.10.0.0 (?) Stela 17, 9.6. 0.0.0 (?)8 
9.2. 0.0.0 Stela 9, 9.6.10.0.0 
Stela 24, 9.2.10.0.0 Stela 18, 9.7. 0.0.0 (?) 
9.3 540;0.0 Stela 21, 9.7.10.0.0 (??) 
Stela 22, 9.3.10.0.0 (??) 9.8. 0.0.0 
9.4. 0.0.0 9.8.10.0.0 
Stela 15, 9.4.10.0.0 Stela 7, 9.9. 0.0.0 
9.5. 0.0.0 Stela P, 9.9.10.0.0 
9.5-10.0.0 

1 The altar of Stela E, which actually records the current hotun-ending, has been regarded as textually one 
with Stela Ein this study. (See pp. 112, 128). 
2 If the readings suggested on page 392, note 1, for Stele 8 and g at Tikal, 9,0.10.0.0 and 9.2.0.0.0 respectively, 
should be correct, these monuments would be the earliest hotun-markers now known, and they would nullify the 
above conclusion, making Tikal the first Maya city to have inaugurated this important custom instead of Copan. 
As already noted, however, these two readings are so doubtful that they have been disregarded in the conclusions 
set forth in this chapter. 
3 Under the postulate that the Early Period stele prior to 9.9.5.0.0 record either lahuntun or katun-endings, 
Stela 17 can only be either 9.6.0.0.0 or 9.6.10.0.0, since its katun coefficient is surely 6 and the former is chosen 
here because the latter date is recorded on Stela 9. 
