Monumental monoliths of pre-Hispanic Mexico (3/4) | #MexicoPrehispanico
A 4 parts review about mexica monoliths, gods and cosmogony...
In this third installment we will continue to analyze important monoliths of large dimensions that have been rescued from the bowels of the earth to shine with splendor and show the exceptional skill of the master sculptors who carved rocks from one piece and in different materials.
In the previous publication we talked about the Coatlicue monolith, discovered in August 1790 in a corner of the Zócalo in Mexico City, and Coyolxahutli, discovered at the foot of the stairs of the Templo Mayor at the end of the last century.
The leveling works of the floor of the main square of Mexico City in 1790 led to the discovery of two additional monoliths that we will review below:
Piedra de Tizoc (Tizoc´s Stone)
This monolith is a cylinder weighing 9.5 tons, carved in andesite 265 centimeters in diameter and 94 centimeters high, that on its circular side has a series of reliefs that show 15 different capture scenes.
What do those scenes mean? In each one of them we see the figure of Tízoc, the Mexica HueyTlatoni (“ruler” would be the current word closest to its original meaning), who holds a man by the hair next to the glyph of a town. This stone represents the conquest and submission of 15 different towns to the rule of the Mexicas under the government of Tizoc. It is estimated that this ruler had this monument carved between 1481 and 1486.
In the upper part of this cylinder there is a circular cavity 46 centimeters in diameter and 15 centimeters deep that is supposed to be a “cuauhxicalli” (glass of hearts) used to place the hearts of freshly sacrificed prisoners. Additionally, the upper part has a channel that starts from that central cavity and that was made after the sculpture was finished, for which reason it is attributed to the Spanish who perhaps gave the monolith a different use and then buried it.
Investigations indicate that during the destruction of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the Spanish removed this monument from its place, in the courtyard of one of the temples of the Sacred Precint, and buried it in the Main Plaza near the first cathedral. Some years later it was exhumed but it provoked strong reactions among the population and it was reburied in the 17th century.
Finally in 1791, a year after the discovery of the Coatlicue, the Piedra de Tizoc was found near the southwest corner of the Metropolitan Cathedral. Currently this monolith is on permanent display in the Mexica Room of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
Piedra del Sol (Stone of the Sun)
This monolith is the quintessential symbol of the Aztecs worldwide, and is also known as the Aztec Calendar, although its actual use was not really that of a calendar, but rather a gladiatorial combat platform according to some theories.
With a dimension of 3.6 meters in diameter and 1.2 meters thick, and a weight of 2.5 tons, this monolith carved in olivine basalt, has reliefs on its front face that represent the complex Mexica cosmogony regarding time, which governed the social and economic order.
At this point I have to refer you to @LaloPadilla's post about this monolith that details in an accessible way all the elements of the reliefs: Aztec Sun Stone.
It is estimated that this monolith was built in 1479 by Axayacatl, the sixth Mexica HueyTlatoani (ruler), almost 40 years before the arrival of Hernan Cortes on the shores of Veracruz. After the Conquest and fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, it was removed from the Templo Mayor and placed on one side of the Viceregal Palace with the relief exposed and facing up. In the mid-16th century, the archbishop of the city ordered to bury it "so that the memory of the sacrifice that was made there would be lost."
The next event would be its discovery and extraction during the leveling works of the main square on December 17, 1790, just four months after the discovery of Coatlicue and very close to that monolith. But his wandering would not end there, because after seeing the light again it was placed on the wall of the west tower of Metropolitan Cathedral , in July 1791.
Another important event in the history of this monolith is that during the american invasion of Mexico in 1847, American soldiers used this monolith as a target and destroyed the central part that represented the face of the Sun God Tonatiuh.
Finally in 1964 the Piedra del Sol was placed in the central place of the Mexica Room of the National Museum of Anthropology, where it can be appreciated by all the public. Until 2006 it was considered that this was the largest Mexica monolith in dimensions, because in that year the discovery of a new, much larger monolith was made.
The Piedra del Sol is a monolith that attracts the visit of tourists from all over the world and it is very nice to discover that other Local Guides friends have had the opportunity to see it with their own eyes like @FaridTDF on a visit to Mexico City.
Once again this post was a bit long, the next post will be the last one in this series in order to conclude with the detail of monumental monoliths of pre-Hispanic Mexico. I thank everyone who has taken the time to follow this series of publications on the subject and I hope that in the next one we can finish with the last two sculptures.