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342 on Pl. XXII, 2; p. 294, are some of the finest examples of low-relief carving found in the Maya area, ranking with the bolder sculptures of Copan, and not far behind the stucco work and still lower reliefs of Palenque. Further features of this site will be mentioned in connection with Palenque.

Copan (Pl. XXVI, 2; p. 338) and Quirigua evidently bear a close relation one to the other, and are differentiated from all other sites by the size and workmanship of the stelæ. Unfortunately but few traces of buildings remain, and it is impossible to determine their exact type. All that can be said is that the walls were thick, and that both in this respect and in the ground-plan (see Fig. 76; p. 327) the buildings probably represent a stage of development midway between Tikal and other sites. With this placing the dates on the Copan monuments agree, but Quirigua was a later site, almost certainly founded from Copan, though it flourished alongside of it until both records cease at the end of the ninth cycle. The monuments of Quirigua show a certain technical superiority over those of Copan, the stelæ are larger, and often ornamented with far greater wealth of detail. The broader treatment of the Copan carvings (Pl. XXI and Fig. 81; pp. 236 and 339), however, gives a nobler effect to the stele of that site, though Quirigua cannot in any sense be regarded as decadent, as witness the magnificent monster with a human figure in its jaws shown on Pl. XXVI, 1; p. 338.

Piedras Negras is a site of great interest. On the one hand the stelæ manifest a very great range of quality, on the other the dates commence early, though not so early as Tikal, and end in the same katun as those of that city. The rudest stelæ bear a rather interesting resemblance to the Huaxtec sculptures of the Panuco valley (Pl. X, 1; p. 108), while the best are of a type peculiar to this locality. The latter represent a figure en face, seated in a niche to which a ladder gives access,