OTHER CITIES OF THE OLD EMPIRE. 439 
These last three cities could not have been occupied very long, since 
the last date recorded anywhere in the southern area, 10.2.0.0.0, is only 20 
years later than their earliest date, and doubtless even at the time of their 
foundation the movement which was emptying the Old Empire region of its 
inhabitants was already nearing its end. After 10.1.0.0.0 no more new sites 
were founded, and soon after 10.2.0.0.0 the few that had survived the 
general exodus up to this time were abandoned and the Old Empire was at 
an end. 
Much of the data upon which the foregoing conclusions are based are, 
of course, not only incomplete, but also of doubtful quality. Thus, for 
example, there are two important sections of the Old Empire area which 
have yet to be explored—the extreme northern part of Peten along the 
Mexican boundary and the western bank of the Usumacinta River from 
Tenosique southeast to Salinas de los Nueve Cerros and thence back to the 
base of the Cordillera, the latter comprising the northeastern quarter of the 
State of Chiapas, Mexico. 
The writer confidently believes a thorough exploration of these two 
densely forested and, in most parts, uninhabited regions will result in the 
location of new Maya cities and the discovery of new hieroglyphic texts, 
although it appears highly improbable that another city as large either as 
Copan or Tikal can still be hidden in either, or even one as large as the 
cities of Class 2 on page 441, since notice of such a site at one time or another 
would almost certainly have been brought out by some mahogany-cutter, 
chicle-bleeder, or even by Lacandon Indians who roam these forests. 
Again, it is obviously hazardous to assume that the earliest deciphered 
monument at a site is at the same time also the earliest one actually erected 
there, and similarly, that the latest deciphered monument is also the latest 
one which was erected there; and doubtless future discoveries will change 
some of the minor aspects of both figures 69 and 70. But the writer believes 
that in both these cases, 7. ¢., the discovery of new texts, as well as the future 
dating of known undeciphered ones, such new data will not affect the general 
features of these figures, and that the broad outlines of Old Empire history 
may safely be accepted as laid down here. 
Another objection to the data upon which the above conclusions are 
based is that the sculptured monuments are not always an exact criterion 
as to the lengths of the periods of occupation, the most striking example of 
this kind being at Nakum, where only 12 of its 15 stele, and these all late, 
are sculptured. This objection is perfectly valid, but the answer to it is 
that in the very few cases where it applies there are also found plain stele 
which may doubtless be assumed to have taken the place of the sculptured 
stele as the period-markers at such sites. 
Weighing all the evidence, the well-nigh universal custom of the Maya 
during the Old Empire to erect their monuments, and in some cases their 
temples as well, at the ends of even hotuns in the Long Count, the writer 
believes most of the data in figures 69 and 70 will be validated rather than 
