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The Aztec Calendar

Calendario Azteca

The Aztec calendar or Sun Stone is one of the greatest treasures of Mexican archaeology. It is a representation of a profound astronomical knowledge of the Mexicas and their fascinating cosmogony.

What is the Aztec Calendar?

The Aztec calendar is a monolithic disc (made of a single piece) with inscriptions related to astronomy and the solar cult of the Mexicas. It describes the movements of the stars and the different cycles with which time was measured. Contrary to what its name suggests, it is not a calendar, but a symbol of the conception of time and the cosmovision of the period. For the Aztecs, time passed in «suns» or cosmic ages, periods of creation and destruction. Before them, four other suns had already existed on earth.

History

According to the experts, the Sun Stone was created during the Post-Classic Period, between 1250 and 1521 A.D., by order of Moctezuma Xocoyotzin or the Axayacatl tlatoani. It is made of volcanic stone (olivine basalt), probably coming from the Xitle volcano and obtained from the southern area of the city.

After the fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1521, the Sun Stone was moved to the Plaza Mayor, east of the viceregal palace, and placed with the sculpted elements facing upwards. It remained there for many years, until, in 1559, Archbishop Alfonso de Montúfar, ordered it to be turned over and buried, arguing that it was a work of the devil, that it was a bad influence for the city’s inhabitants, and so that «the ancient memories of the sacrifice that was made there would be lost».

Discovery of the Aztec Calendar

After 270 years of being underground, the Sun Stone was rediscovered on December 17, 1790, while works were being done on the south side of Mexico City’s Plaza Mayor to build drains and sidewalks. The workers under the command of José Damián Ortiz de Castro found it buried a little more than 40 cm away, 60 meters from one of the doors of the Viceroyalty Palace. It was named «Aztec Calendar» by the anthropologist Antonio de León y Gama, who came to the site to see it. The anthropologist argued that the Sun Stone should not be buried again because of its great historical and artistic value, so it was placed at the side of the Metropolitan Cathedral on July 2, 1971. During the American Intervention in Mexico between 1846 and 1848, foreign soldiers used this Mesoamerican relic to play target shooting, damaging it considerably. At the end of the 19th century, it was moved to the Monolith Gallery of the Former National Museum. In 1964, the Aztec Calendar arrived at the Mexica Hall of the National Anthropology Museum. Where it remains to this day, as one of the main museum exhibits.

Parts of the Aztec Calendar and their meaning

The Aztec calendar represents the solar disk and is divided into several sections, concentric rings containing elements related to time.

Central disc.  At the heart of the monolith is the face of Totatiuh, the Sun God, inside the glyph that means «movement». He is represented with the lower half of the face stark and the upper half incarnate, which represents life and death. He is characterized by the lines of his forehead and eyes, his straight hair, his jewels, his tongue represented as a flint knife (symbol of the sacrifice required for his daily rebirth after his journey to the underworld), and his claws with human hearts.

First Ring. The first ring of the Aztec Calendar contains twenty figures, representing the twenty days of the sacred Aztec Calendar: Tonalpohualli. This calendar was recorded in a deerskin or amate paper known as tonalpouhqui or book of days.

Second ring. The second ring of the Aztec calendar has several sections with five circles, where the weeks are believed to be represented. At the same time, there is a representation of the sun’s rays in the direction of the cardinal points in eight sections.

Third ring. In the third ring of the Sun Stone, there are two fire snakes with scales (the personification of Tonatiúh and Tezcatlipoca), which surround the stone and lead the deity through the sky. Each Mexica century was 52 years old and at the end of each one, the ceremony of the New Fire was performed, represented with flames in several sections.

Fourth ring. Finally, in the fourth ring of the Sun Stone, there are eight equidistant reliefs, representing various constellations. It contains 158 small circles.

Curious information from the Aztec calendar

– It weighs almost 25 tons, measures 3.5 meters, and is 122 centimeters in diameter.

– When it was discovered in 1790, the Aztec Calendar was painted with colors, which were lost over time.

– Throughout history, the Aztec Calendar has been used in Mexican numismatics, from the 1905 5 cent coins (with a partial stylization of the sun’s rays from the glow ring parallel to the edge of the piece) to the 10-cent coin minted in 1992, with a partial stylization of the central disk in the center of the piece.

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