![]() This warrior sun has his tongue represented by a knife, a symbol of the human sacrifice that the solar god demanded to feed and be reborn each day after his nocturnal journey through the underworld. In the center of the monolith is carved the face of Tonatiuh, known by the Aztecs as the fifth solar god, who was the leader of the sky. The monolith is arranged with a succession of concentric rings that have elements related to time, for example, it describes the duration of the months, the number of days that a year contained, and the duration of the Mexica centuries. So what is the Aztec Calendar if not a calendar?Īlthough La Piedra del Sol symbolizes the conception of time, it did not function as a calendar for the Mexica. ![]() In 1964 the sculpture left its place on Calle de la Moneda and was transferred to the Bosque de Chapultepec on a 16-meter platform, in a journey of one hour and 15 minutes, to be installed in the Museo Nacional de Antropología (National Museum of Anthropology), where it currently occupies the stellar place in the Sala Mexica. It was not until September 1887 when it was transferred to a closed, protected location: the Museo Nacional (National Museum) located on Calle de la Moneda, where it occupied the central place of the Monolith Gallery for 77 years. There, it could be admired by all, but it also had a huge deterioration from the elements and the people who would throw food scraps and trash at it, and even soldiers that would play bullseye, shooting at the center of the stone. During paving and leveling works that were carried out in the Plaza Mayor of Mexico City (what is now the Zócalo of the city), La Piedra del Sol was found at a depth of 1.3 ft from the ground, practically emerging by itself!Īfter its uncovering, it was moved to the outside of the Templo Mayor, where it was kept out in the open, with the relief facing out/upwards for many years. It remained underground until Decemwhen it returned to light by accident. This huge monolith remained in place until the arrival of the Spanish and the defeat of the Mexica empire, when in 1559 the stone was buried facing down, since the Spanish believed that the stone had been the work of the devil and exerted bad influence on the (indigenous) townspeople-as it happened with many other Mexica cultural and religious symbols. The total weight of the monolith is around 25 tons! It is believed that the stone comes from either the Pedregal de San Ángel or Xochimilco area, so it had to be transported from the south of Mexico City to the Templo Mayor in the central area 12 to 22 kilometers (7.5-13.5 miles). It is an impressive block of olivine volcanic basalt that measures 3.60 meters (11.8 ft) in diameter and is 122 centimeters (4 ft) thick. It is estimated that it was carved in 1479 and it is known that it occupied a prominent place in the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlán. La Piedra del Sol dates from the time of Tlatoani Axayácatl, the sixth Mexica ruler. Essentially, for the Mexica, this stone commemorates the time created and destroyed by the gods. ![]() This monolith is an unfinished piece, which has been confused with a calendar because in its circles we can find a clear disposition of time, movement of the stars, and cycles of months, as conceived by the Mexica culture. Although, not really a calendar as we know it today, this iconic monument synthesizes the astronomical knowledge that the Mexica society developed and the order under which they lived. Commonly known as the Aztec Calendar, La Piedra del Sol (Stone of the Sun) is one of the most representative pieces of the Mexica culture.
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