424 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
But this centrifugal force, which must have threatened to disrupt the 
tribe, and which certainly cost Group 9 its position of preéminence in the 
valley, appears to have been of short duration. Of the six different groups 
where the katun-ending 9.11.0.0.0 was commemorated by the erection of a 
stela, only one has any other inscribed monuments, and that is the group 
which later became the Main Structure. 
In attempting to explain this condition, one point at least appears 
reasonably certain, namely, that these groups, with the exception of the 
Main Structure, did not continue to hold important positions in the valley, 
which is indicated by the fact that, with the single exception noted, no sub- 
sequent monuments were erected at any one of them. 
Perhaps the best explanation of the facts observed is that after this 
decentralizing wave had reached its crest in 9.11.0.0.0 there was a reaction, 
_ during which the former tendency toward centralization developed during 
the 200 years Group g had been the only settlement of importance in the 
valley, reasserted itself, and as a result the “ain Structure became the 
principal settlement in the valley and in the following century the next to 
largest city in the Old Empire, being second in size only to Tikal. 
The next question confronting us is, when was the group at the Main 
Structure founded? And in seeking the answer to it, we must again turn 
to the evidence afforded by the dated monuments. 
The earliest monument at the Main Structure, which is not obviously 
in a position indicating secondary usage, is Stela E; but, as we have already 
seen, neither Stela E nor Stela P can be regarded as 1m situ where now found, 
strictly speaking, both probably having been removed to the Main Struc- 
ture from Group g long subsequent to their original erection at the latter site. 
The next earliest monuments are Stele 2 and 3 in the Middle Court, 
which may or may not be in their original positions, and the earliest monu- 
ment at the Main Structure surely im situ is Stela 1, also in the Middle Court. 
Let us next examine the dates and provenance of these three stele. 
Stele 2 and 3 both date from 9.11.0.0.0, as already noted, and Stela 1 
from 9.11.15.0.0, the provenance of all three, as just stated, being the same, 
i. €., the Middle Court. The first is very doubtfully in its original position; 
the second probably so, because a cache of objects, though not in a stone- 
lined chamber, was found under its foundation-stone; and the third surely 
so, the chamber under its foundation-stone having been built at the same 
time as Mound g. 
It was suggested in Chapter III that Stele 10 and 12 at Groups 12 and 3 
respectively, both of which were erected at approximately the same time 
as Stele 2 and 3,! may have had something to do in determining the location 
of a settlement at the Main Structure, possibly by defining some particular 
line of sight, which now cuts across the southern slope of the Acropolis. 
We have seen how, under the influence of a strong decentralizing move- 
ment, possibly due to the normal expansion and growth of a people who had 
1 The only date on Stela 10 is only 100 days earlier than 9.11.0.0.0, i. ¢., 9.10.19.13.0. 
