Altar N (Monument 14)
To help keep track of the Quirigua Monuments, here is a link to a spreadsheet of most of the Quirigua monuments in chronological order, with dedication date, ruler, and associated details from inscriptions. There are also links from the spreadsheet monument number to the section devoted to that monument.
Monument 14: Alter N, Dedicated by Cauac Sky in 731 or Maya long count 9.15.0.0.0
"A double-headed grotesque figure on all fours, with a turtle shell on his back, carved in the round, badly eroded, some 1.8 m (6 feet) long by 1.2 m (4 feet) high. One head is apparently human, the other is apparently skeletal [shown in this photo]. Monument 14 probably represents the old deity usually called God N."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 56
From the Maudslay Collection, British Museum. Used with permission under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 non-commercial license. ©he Trustees of the British Museum.
"When first seen by Maudslay, it was broken in half and lodged in the roots of a large tree, which he had felled in 1883. By 1894, during Maudslay's last visit to Quirigua, Monument 14 was cleared of the remains of the tree and photographed. It was first repaired by Hewett in 1911, and subsequently repaired again in more recent times."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 56
Monument 14: Alter N, Dedicated by Cauac Sky in 731 or Maya long count 9.15.0.0.0
I believe this is the skeletal head which is also the head shown in the previous photo.
"A small, eroded head of a feline (jaguar) sculpted in the round, about 1.25 m (4 feet) long and .7 M (2 1/2 feet) high. Four columns of hieroglyphs are carved on the back of the head. A historical date, counted from the period ending 4 Ahau 13 Yax (9.15.0.0.0), is given in the first three rows of glyphs in the two columns on the left, recorded as 1120 days (2 uinals plus 3 tuns) later to reach 6 Ahau 18 Zac. The date corresponds to the early years of Cauac Sky's reign and, although not referred to here by his later name glyph, several titles used in his later texts appear in the right-hand column. The last glyph in the text represents the earliest known use of the Quirigua "Emblem Glyph" at the site."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 54
"Columnar stela that rises 5.2 m (17 feet) above the present surface. It is carved with an early beardless frontal portrait of Cauac Sky on the west face which overlaps onto the north and south sides of the monument. He holds a double-headed ceremonial bar horizontally across his chest, and wears a headdress much simpler than those on later monuments.
Monument 8 is oriented to the west, on the edge and facing away from the Great Plaza towards the now vanished ancient course of the Motagua river, indicating that the original focus of Cauac Sky's earlier stelae was toward the river, rather than the north-south orientation developed by the monuments on the later northern Plaza Platform."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 45
"The hieroglyphic text is on the back (east) side and is unusually arranged in a diagonal pattern, now somewhat eroded. The Initial Series introductory glyph appears at the upper right corner, followed by seven diagnonal double-row blocks of hieroglyphs, each containing eight glyphs (except for the final block with four glyphs) that are read in double columns. The first seven glyphs of the initial block record the Initial Series date of 9.16.0.0.0 using bar-and-dot notation.
Only one other Maya monumental text is known to follow this diagnoal pattern, that being Cancuen Stela 3, a fragmentary sculpture from a small site in the southernmost lowlands some 150 km (90 miles) northwest of Quirigua. Monument 8 is often compared to Copan Stela J, but the text on the latter monument, while diagonal, is actually read in a completely different order, following a much more complex interwoven "mat" pattern."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 45
"This is the earliest stela in the Main Group and the first of Cauac Sky's monuments to portray him standing on an earth monster pedestal (probably representing the Cauac Monster)."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 45
This is the north side of Stela H [Monument 8]
Closeup of the young corn god sitting at the bottom of the North side of Stela H.
Closeup of Cauac Sky holding the double-sided serpent bar. On the side of the stela, the god Kawil can be seen emerging from the serpent bar.
Closeup of Kawil emerging from the serpent bar on the side of Stela H.
Closeup of Cauac Sky again holding his double-sided serpent bar. Cauac Sky's headdress represents the huge eyes and nose of some crowned monster or god. Cauac Sky's face appears in place of the creature's mouth and lower jaw.
"Columnar stela rising to a height of 5 m [15 feet] above the ground. On the west side is the sculpted frontal figure of Cauac Sky. Like the other well-preserved early portrait of this ruler on Monument 8, he is shown without a beard. He stands on an earth-monster mask, similar to the pedestal on Monument 8, holding the manikin scepter in his right hand and a small round shield in his left. The headdress appears intermediate between the more simple form seen in Monument 8 and the elaborate compositions of Cauac Sky's later stelae.
The other three sides of Monument 10 are covered by hieroglyphic texts. The back [east] side has four columns. The Initial Series date is on the back, opening with an unusually large introductory glyph and recording the dedicatory date of 9.16.5.0.0 using head-variant numerals. This is the earliest known use of this numerical notation form at Quirigua. At C11 [third row from the bottom, second from the right], there is a reference to 14 hel, indicating that Cauac Sky was the 14th member of the local dynastic succession. The northern text records a distance number that counts back from the Initial Series date to fix Cauac Sky's inauguration on 9.14.13.4.17 12 Caban 5 Kayab. The sacrifice of 18 Rabbit, ruler of Copan, is recalled in the southern text with another distance number recording the date 9.15.6.14.6 6 Cimi 4 Tzec [738 A.D.]."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 49
"Like the other well-preserved early portraits of this ruler on Monument 8, he is shown without a beard...The headdress appears intermediate between the more simple form seen in Monument 8 and the elaborate compositions of Cauac Sky's later stelae."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 49
"The other three sides of Monument 10 are covered by hieroglyphic texts...The sacrifice of 18 Rabbit, ruler of Copan, is recalled in the southern text with another distance number recording the date 9.15.6.14.6 6 Cimi 4 Tzec (738 A.D.)."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 49
"The northern text records a distance number tha counts back from the Initial Series date to fix Cauac Sky's inauguration on 9.14.13.4.17 12 Caban 5 Kayab."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 49