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Battle Mural
Cacaxtla
Epi Classic
*The mural depicts two sets of warriors one wearing jaguar skins and other eagle feathers engaged in a battle. Cacaxtla was occupied by Olmeca-Xicallanca tribe and flourished between 650 AD and 950 AD. |
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Calendar Stone--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic
*The Aztec calendar stone, Mexica sun stone, Stone of the Sun (Spanish: Piedra del Sol), or Stone of the Five Eras, is a large monolithic sculpture that was excavated in the Zócalo, the main square of Mexico City, on December 17, 1790. The exact purpose and meaning of the stone is unclear. Archaeologists and historians have proposed a number of theories, however, and it seems likely that there are many aspects to the stone. One aspect of the stone is its religious significance. One theory is that the face at the center of the stone represents Tonatiuh, the Aztec deity of the sun. It is for this reason that the stone became known as the "sun stone". |
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Chacmool--
Tula, Toltec,
Early Postclassic
*A chacmool is a Mesoamerican sculpture of a reclining figure holding a bowl on his lap or stomach. Perhaps the best known chacmool sculpture is the one located at the top of the steps in front of the Temple of the Warriors at Chichén Itzá. The statue was given its name by the 19th-century French archaeologist Auguste Le Plongeon.
It is not entirely clear whom these figures represent. They could represent the Mayan rain god 'Chac'; they could also symbolize the color red (another meaning for 'chac'); or they could represent captive nobles. More than twelve reclining chacmool sculptures are known at Chichén Itzá, and similar figures occur at Tula. Some argue that the bowls they hold are meant to hold the heart and the blood of people sacrificed to the gods of rain and agriculture. |
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Chicomecoatl (Corn Deity)
Calixtlahuaca, Aztec,
Late Postclassic
*This sculpture depicts Chicomecoatl (seven serpents), a goddess of sustenance, especially of edible plants and corn. She is shown standing on bare feet wearing a long skirt held in place with a belt, and holding in her right hand two maize ears |
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Coatlicue (Serpent Skirt)--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic
*symbol of the earth as both creator and destroyer, mother of the gods and mortals. The dualism that she embodies is powerfully concretized in her image: her face is of two fanged serpents and her skirt is of interwoven snakes (snakes symbolize fertility); her breasts are flabby (she nourished many); her necklace is of hands, hearts, and a skull (she feeds on corpses, as the earth consumes all that dies); and her fingers and toes are claws. Called also Teteoinnan (“Mother of the Gods”) and Toci (“Our Grandmother”), she is a single manifestation of the earth goddess, a multifaceted being who also appears as the fearsome goddess of childbirth, Cihuacóatl (“Snake Woman”; like Coatlicue, called Tonantzin [“Our Mother”]), and as Tlazoltéotl, the goddess of sexual impurity and wrongful behaviour. |
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Coyolxauhqui (Bells on her Cheeks)
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic.
*Coyolxauhqui is the Aztec Moon Goddess. Her name means "Woman With Copper Bells on Her Cheeks", and when the moon rises full and red you can still see them.
Her mother, Coatlicue, became magically pregnant when a crown of feathers fell in Her lap. Believing Her family had been dishonoured, the angry Coyolxauhqui meant to kill Her; but the child Huitzilopochtli, whose name means "Hummingbird on the Left" (the south, i.e. the Sun), springing from the womb fully armored, defended Their mother and killed Coyolxauhqui instead. He cut off Her head and flung it into the sky, where it became the Moon.
The combat between Coyolxauhqui the Moon and Huitzilopochtli the Sun represents the alternation of day and night.
Coyolxauhqui on a pragmatic level can indicate sibling rivalry. On a larger level, this card represents transcending differences and being able to move the spirit to a higher plane. |
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Ehecatl (Wind Deity)
Calixtlahuaca, Aztec,
Late Postclassic.
*In Aztec mythology, Ehecatl ("wind") is the god of the winds. He begins the movement of the sun and sweeps the high roads of the rain god with his breath. As another form of the great Quetzalcoatl he brings life to all that is lifeless. He brought love to mankind after he became involved with Mayahuel, a young woman. Their love was symbolized by a beautiful tree which grows on the place they arrived on earth. |
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Map of Tenochtitlan
by Hernan Cortes--Spanish,
Late Postclassic |
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Map of Tenochtitlan from Codex Mendoza--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic |
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Pyramid B (atlantids)--
Tula, Toltec,
Early Postclassic |
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Pyramid B--
Tula, Toltec,
Early Postclassic. |
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Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent (detail)--
Xochicalco,
Epi-Classic |
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Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent--
Xochicalco,
Epi-Classic. |
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Temple of the Warriors (detail)--
Chichen Itza,
Early Postclassic |
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Temple of the Warriors--
Chichen Itza,
Early Postclassic |
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Templo Mayor--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic
*The Templo Mayor[1] was one of the main temples of the Aztecs in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called the huei teocalli ['wei teo'kalːi][2] in the Nahuatl language and dedicated simultaneously to two gods, Huitzilopochtli, god of war and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture, each of which had a shrine at the top of the pyramid with separate staircases. |
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Teocalli de la Guerra (Temple Stone detail 1)--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic. |
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Teocalli de la Guerra (Temple Stone detail 2)--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic. |
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Teocalli de la Guerra (Temple Stone)--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic. |
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Tizoc Stone--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic
*This stone was used for sacrificing captives from war. The hole and channel on top of the stone is thought to be in place for blood to drain off the stone. |
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Tlaltecuhtli (Earth Deity)--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic
*Tlaltecuhtli was thought to swallow the sun every night and regurgitate it back out in the morning. She was also thought to swallow the hearts of victims sacrificed to her, so it was common to carve images of her on the bottom of stone boxes in which the hearts and blood of sacrificial victims where placed after being ripped from their bodies. |
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Tonalpohualli (sacred calendar) in Codex Borbonicus--
Tenochtitlan, Aztec,
Late Postclassic
*The tonalpohualli, or day-count, has been called a sacred calendar because its main purpose is that of a divinatory tool. It divides the days and rituals between the gods. For the Aztec mind this is extremely important. Without it the world would soon come to an end. According to Aztec cosmology, the universe is in a very delicate equilibrium. Opposing divine forces are competing for power. This equilibrium is in constant danger of being disrupted by shifting powers of the gods, of the elemental forces that influence our lifes. This struggle cannot be won by any god.
The notion that everything ultimately consists of two opposing forces is essential to the Aztec worldview. The world is always on the brink of going under in a spiritual war, a war of gods competing for supreme power. To prevent this from happening, the gods have been given their own space, their own time, their own social groups, etcetera, to rule over. The tonalpohualli tells us how time is divided among the gods. |
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-all southern north america: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador.
-all spoke different languages
-same concept of time, shared calendar understood time in the same way => believed time was not guaranteed. it wasnt given that the sun would rise everyday
-same sport-ball game
-valuable blue green color Jade Turquoise =>water
-pyramids valuable => mountains |
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| people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language |
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| were an indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico, known today as the rulers of the Aztec empire. |
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anything dug out of the ground and documented.
cant tell you meanings
subject to what hasn't been found and what doesn't preserve |
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| how images convey meanings |
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the study of a particular group but difference between the living in the dead
-writing about an ethnic group and their practices while being observed |
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histories about particular ethnic group
(written by someone who can't read the same ethnic group) |
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| Spanish ethnohistories that justified what they were doing and why |
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| ethnohistory written by an indigenous group (usually a book) |
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| Hernán Cortés was a Spanish explorer who is famous mainly for his march across Mexico |
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| La Malinche, known also as Malinalli, Malintzin or Doña Marina, was a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, who played a role in the Spanish conquest of Mexico, acting as interpreter, advisor, lover, and intermediary for Hernán Cortés |
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| Tenochtitlan was a Nahua altepetl located on an island in Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. Founded in 1325, it became the capital of the expanding Mexica Empire in the 15th century, until captured by the Spanish in 1521. |
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