<P> The Maya sculptural tradition that produced the stelae emerged fully formed and had probably been preceded by sculpted wooden monuments . However the tradition of raising stelae had its origin elsewhere in Mesoamerica, among the Olmecs of the Gulf Coast of Mexico . In the Late Preclassic it then spread into the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and southwards along the Pacific Coast to sites such as Chiapa de Corzo, Izapa and Takalik Abaj where Mesoamerican Long Count calendar dates began to be carved onto the stelae . Although at Izapa the stelae depicted mythological scenes, at Takalik Abaj they began to show rulers in Early Classic Maya posture accompanied by calendrical dates and hieroglyphic texts . It was also at Takalik Abaj and Izapa that these stelae began to be paired with circular altars . By approximately 400 BC, near the end of the Middle Preclassic Period, early Maya rulers were raising stelae that celebrated their achievements and validated their right to rule . At El Portón in the Salamá Valley of highland Guatemala a carved schist stela (Monument 1) was erected, the badly eroded hieroglyphs appear to be a very early form of Maya writing and may even be the earliest known example of Maya script . It was associated with a plain altar in a typical stela - altar pairing that would become common across the Maya area . Stela 11 from Kaminaljuyu, a major Preclassic highland city, dates to the Middle Preclassic and is the earliest stela to depict a standing ruler . The sculpted Preclassic stelae from Kaminaljuyu and other cities in the region, such as Chalchuapa in El Salvador and Chocolá in the Pacific lowlands, tend to depict political succession, sacrifice and warfare . </P> <P> These early stelae depicted rulers as warriors or wearing the masks and headdresses of Maya deities, accompanied by texts that recorded dates and achievements during their reigns, as well as recording their relationships with their ancestors . Stelae came to be displayed in large ceremonial plazas designed to display these monuments to maximum effect . The raising of stelae spread from the Pacific Coast and adjacent highlands throughout the Maya area . The development of Maya stelae coincides with the development of divine kingship among the Classic Maya . In the southern Maya area, the Late Preclassic stelae impressed upon the viewer the achievements of the king and his right to rule, thus reinforcing both his political and religious power . </P> <P> At the Middle Preclassic city of Nakbe in the central lowlands, Maya sculptors were producing some of the earliest lowland Maya stelae, depicting richly dressed individuals . Nakbe Stela 1 has been dated to around 400 BC . It was broken into pieces, but originally represented two elaborately dressed figures facing each other, and perhaps represents the transference of power from one ruler to his successor, however it also has features that recall the myth of the Maya Hero Twins, and would be the earliest known presentation of them . Around 200 BC the enormous nearby city of El Mirador had started to erect stela - like monuments, bearing inscriptions that appear to be glyphs but that are so far unreadable . Stela dating to the Late Preclassic period are also known from the sites of El Tintal, Cival, and San Bartolo in Guatemala, and Actuncan and Cahal Pech in Belize . </P> <P> On the Pacific Coast El Baúl Stela 1 features a date in its hieroglyphic text that equates to 36 AD . It depicts a ruler bearing a sceptre or a spear with a double column of hieroglyphic text before him . At Takalik Abaj are two stelae (Stela 2 and Stela 5) depicting the transfer of power from one ruler to another; they both show two elaborately dressed figures facing each other with a column of hieroglyphic text between them . The Long Count date on Stela 2 dates it to the 1st century BC at the latest, while Stela 5 has two dates, the latest of which is 126 AD . The stela was associated with the burial of a human sacrifice and other offerings . Stela 13 at Takalik Abaj also dates to the Late Preclassic; a massive offering of more than 600 ceramic vessels was found at its base, together with 33 obsidian prismatic blades and other artefacts . Both the stela and the offering were associated with a nearby Late Preclassic royal tomb . At Cuello in Belize, a plain stela was raised around 100 AD in an open plaza . </P>

Maya portrait stelae like the one seen here probably had the following purpose