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 links from the spreadsheet monument number to the section devoted to that monument.
Zoomorph P (Monument 16), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
Sky Xul was inaugurated on Oct 13, 785 AD and ruled for 10 years or more. He seems to have specialized in Zoomorphs, huge bolders elaborately carved with images and glyphs, and their companion altars.
Monument 16, also known as Zoomorph P, is the largest such carved boulder found at Quirigua, and unquestionably the most beautiful
Zoomorph P (Monument 16), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
"The front (north) side presents a central sculpted portrait of a youthful Quirigua ruler, probably Sky Xul, successor to Cauac Sky, in full regalia seated in the cave-like gaping jaws of the reptilian cosmological monster. The human figure is wearing a multi-masked headdress and holds a manikin scepter in his right hand, along with a small shield in the left."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 60
Zoomorph P (Monument 16), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
"The portrait's nose appears to have been battered quite some time ago, probably as part of rituals following the ruler's death (a common Maya custom). However, in recent years, vandals have attempted to saw off the head, damaging the ear ornaments and neck."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 60
Zoomorph P (Monument 16), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
"Flanking the central figure and extending around the sides of the sculpture are small secondary figures and hieroglyphic panels. The prevailing motifs appear to be aquatic in theme. The sides depict the legs of the cosmological monster (nearly obscured) and seven animal figures interwoven into a series of Cauac Monster masks."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 61-62
Zoomorph P (Monument 16), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
Detail of small figure sitting cross-legged. His face is in profile and he is looking upward and back.
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.
Alfred Maudslay was an early explorer and archaeologist who devoted his life to preserving the Maya cultural heritage, using glass plate photography, plaster casts, drawings, accurate and high quality mapping, as well as his excellent and extensive writings. We owe a lot to Maudslays efforts in preserving and popularizing the monuments and inscriptions of Central America.
Zoomorph P (Monument 16), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
"The rear head of the cosmological monster like that on Monument 15, is carved on the south (back) side, flanked by an extensive inscription. Overall, in the opinion of W.H. Holmes, a past director of U.S. National Art Gallery, Monument 16 represents the finest known example of Pre-Columbian sculpture."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 61
Zoomorph P (Monument 16), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
"The Initial Series date of 9.18.0.0.0 may be found to the left (west) of the rear mask using bar-and-dot notation. Other texts of note include panels of glyphs along with a series of other hieroglyphs surrounding the seated portrait on the north side.
Other glyph panels may be found on the sides of the monument. These text refer both to the current ruler, Sky Xul, and his predecessor Cauac SKy, astronomical events, and the historical relationship between Quirigua and the larger site of Copan."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 61
Zoomorph P (Monument 16), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
"Morris and Sstromsvik recovered a broken and empty pottery box from beneath Monument 16 in 1934."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 62
Altar P (Monument 24), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
On Monument 24 (Altar P) from Quirigua "the god Chac [the rain god] appears bursting into the sky from a great crevice, accompanied by wild scrolls of blood, k'uhul, and vision serpents. Metamorphosing from these scrolls are the semiskeletal heads of two reptilian zoomorphs with upturned snouts, one of which wears some kind of extension on the tip of its muzzle."
Elizabeth A. Newsome, Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World: The Serial Stela Cycle of 18-Rabbit-God K, King of Copan, p. 146
NOTE: Chac's feet appear in the "V" in the center of the "T" shaped inscription. His head is in the center forground of the photo, with arms extended to either side of the head, grasing a two-headed serpent that may represent the double-headed ceremonial bar.
Altar P (Monument 24), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
Detail of Chac's feet as he bursts from the "V" shaped crevice in the rock.
Altar P (Monument 24), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
Detail of the ceremonial bar that Chac is grasping in his left hand.
Altar P (Monument 24), dedicated by Sky Xul on Sept 13, 795 or 9.18.5.0.0 long count
The opposite side of Zoomorph P shows giant claws and possibly a snake body with scales. The "T" shaped inscription and Chac's feet can be seen center left.
Regarding the inscription, Robert Sharer writes: "The hieroglyphic text lies within a large T-shaped panel surrounding the feet of the main figure. It begins on the west with the Initial Series date 9.18.5.0.0 recorded in head-variant numerals.
It also includes, like its companions along the south terrace of the Ball Court Plaza, a series of calendrical dates, many with apparent historical implications. There is also a reference to the beginning of the Maya calendar at 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 62
Quirigua: Zoomorph P
This photo shows the Altar to Zoomorph P (called Monument 24) to the left and a side view of Zoomorph P to the right. Part of the huge monster mask carved on the top of this monument is visible. One huge eye with eyelid, cheek bones and profile of the nose can be seen, as well as the eyebrow with its curling detail over the monster's brow.
Zoomorph O (Monument 15), south side, dedicated by Sky Xul on Oct 9, 790 or 9.18.0.0.0 long count
"Boulder carved over its upper surfaces, but the sculpture is now broken and eroded. Like Monument 14, when first encourtered by Maudslay, this sculpture was in the grip of a large tree. The much better preserved southern face has a central grotesque mask with fleshless jaws. Monument 15, like Monument 2, seems to depict the cosmological reptilian monster.
...Hieroglyphic panels are carved above and below the mask on the southern side. The lower band, divided by the mask's lower jaw, begins at the left (west) with an Initial Series date 9.18.0.0.0 rendered in bar-and-dot notation."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 57-58
Zoomorph O (Monument 15) south side, dedicated by Sky Xul on Oct 9, 790 or 9.18.0.0.0 long count
Altar O (Monument 23), companion of Zoomorph O, dedicated by Sky Xul on Oct 9, 790 or 9.18.0.0.0 long count
"An irregular flat boulder, some 3.8 m (11 1/2 feet) long and .5 m (1 1/2 feet) thick. It is carved over its upper surface, overlapping somewhat onto its sides.
The northern third of this exquisite sculpture depicts a spectacular figure, representing either a human dressed in the costume of a god, or a deity, poised against the coils of a gigantic, spotted serpent rendered in bold and deeply carved relief.
The figure's feet point to the west, the right leg drawn upward as if dancing. His head, turned to face northwards, is adorned with an elaborate headdress and his face is covered by a jaguar mask.
The right hand grasps an apparent masked-shield, held in profile, while the left arm is thrown above the head holding another mask.
The entire composition is a skillful and vivid depiction of a figure in motion, rare in Maya art, and was considered by Sylvanus G. Morley to be the finest example of its kind in the Maya area.
The southern two-thirds of Monument 23's upper surface is carved in an elegant hieroglyphic inscription.
This begins with a central T-shaped panel of large and complex full-figure glyphs recording the Initial Series date read as 9.17.14.16.8 9 Etznab 1 Kankin, the day of Sky Xul's inauguration as ruler of Quirigua.
This leads to an outer panel, following the same T-shaped outline, containing a lengthy historical text. The latter includes mention of Cauac Sky and his successor Sky Xul, with the latter's apparent titles, and the Quirigua "emblem glyph."
There are references to several historical dates, such as Cauac Sky's capture of 18 Rabbit, ruler of Copan (9.15.6.14.6), and others of unknown significance. "
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 58-9
Stela I (Monument 9) dedicated in 9.18.10.0.0 (800 AD) by Jade Sky
Jade Sky was inaugurated during a period we term the Terminal Classic, a period of irreversible decline in the old kingdoms of the Maya lowlands, when cities became depopulated, gradually stopped raising stone monuments, went silent, and were abandoned.
Compared to the gigantic stelae raised by Cauac Sky in his prime, Jade Sky's stela of forty years later looks stunted and poor, and is even bereft of the usual pedestal mask at its base.
Apparently ties were never completely severed between Copan and Quirigua, and their exchange of ideas & influences continue until the collapse. Newsome believes that the famous Maya scholar Linda Schele believed that Dispite Cauac Sky's brief liberation of Quirigua, the site appears to have healed its breach with Copan by the Terminal Classic. Schele believes it may have returned to Copan's control in the reigns of Sky XUl or Jade Sky (Schele 1989d, 8-9) Riese (1986j)
Elizabeth Newsome. Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World: The Serial Stela Cycle of "18-Rabbit-God-K," King of Copan. University of Texas Press, 2001, p. 52 and p. 229, note 12
The same fate was happening to Quirigua's old foe Copan. The final official reference to a rite by Yax Pasah, the 16th and last ruler of Copan, involved the performance of a ritual blood-letting ritual he performed at Quirigua with Jade Sky.
Quirigua: Monument 9, North Side
"Both the north and the south sides of this monument are carved with double columns of glyphs. The Initial Series date on the northern face records the dedicatory date of 9.18.10.0.0 [800 A.D.] using bar and dot notation. Jade Sky is named in the text on the south side, followed by an apparent title and the Quirigua "emblem glyph." A reference to 16 hel indicates that this ruler was the 16th in the dynastic succession."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 48-9
Quirigua: Monument 9, North Side
A smiling monster decorates the top of the twin columns of glyphs on the north side of Stela I.
Quirigua: Monument 9, East Side
"This back (eastern) side is adorned with a small niche framed by an elaborate rendering of a double-headed deity, probably Itzamna. Within the niche is a small sculpted human figure seated cross-legged. This niched figure is recognized as an accession motif at the Maya site of Piedras Negras, located along the Usumacinta river far to the northwest of Quirigua. Based on this accession motif, it can be assumed that Monument 9 commemorates the inauguration of a Quirigua ruler, probably Jade Sky, around the year 800 A.D."
Robert J. Sharer, Quirigua: A Classic Maya Center & Its Sculptures, Carolina Academic Press, 1990, p. 48-9