Rescuing the Origins of Dos Pilas Dynasty:
A Salvage of Hieroglyphic Stairway #2, Structure L5-49

Structure of the Information

The earliest dates and events of the three Stairways are in the Central Section. Therefore the readings begin in this section followed by Stairway 2, East and ending with Step 1 of Stairway 2, West.

Each step is divided into 12 glyph blocks with a minimum of two individual glyphs each including numerals in some cases. The reading order is A1, A2, B1, B2 and so on. Because each block has a minimum of two glyphs, including numerals, the total number of glyphs in the three Stairways can be as many as 912 signs or so making it one of the longest inscriptions in the Maya area and certainly in the Petexbatún region.

Each step in all three Stairways begins with a distance number (DN) which does not come from another date but which is always followed by an anchor date and the date in which the event subject of the steps occurs. The expressions following the DN are u-ti-yi equivalent to "from or ago" or u-to-ma equivalent to "will happen" or "it was to be". At times the DN leads to a "period ending or half period ending" expression followed by the expression "u-ti" equivalent to "then it happens" or "it came to pass".

These expressions of time serve to open the statements in the steps and to anchor the date of the historical event which is the main subject of the step. On almost all of the steps the last glyphs are the name and titles of Ruler 1.

It is not known, however, why the distance numbers which are mostly Winal and K’in or in other words minimal amounts of time, begin each step with no apparent connection to the previous message. If further research does not find a reasonable clue to this phenomenon the hieroglyphic Stairways will be an exception to other Maya inscriptions of the Classic Period.

As a result of the word order of the sentences, the texts show fronted temporal phrases and coupleted expressions. Some verbal expressions include passive constructions but others use various forms with no apparent reasons for the change from step to step.

Because of this and the subtle difference in the work of the sculptures it could conceivably be that the Stairways were carved and placed on different occasions or certainly done by different artists.

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