page_title: Aztec sun stone
section_title: Calendar iconography in other objects
hierarchical_section_title: Aztec sun stone / Other sun stones / Calendar iconography in other objects
caption_attribution_description: English: From the British Museum: Offering vessel (cuauhxicalli) made of basalt. The shape of the vessel echoes that of pottery storage jars used to hold pulque. Its upper part is composed of encircling superimposed bands of human hearts, feathers and jade. The front bears a solar disk and the glyph 4 Movement, the symbol for the fifth epoch in the Aztec creation cycle. On the base beneath this is the glyph 1 Rain. On the obverse side a symbol for the moon is found together with the glyph 2 Rabbit, one of the calendrical names for the pulque god. The hollow basin on the top of the vessel and some details of the exterior surface were never completed. The object also shows signs of having been intentionally defaced, particularly at the sides. Offering vessel (cuauhxicalli) made of basalt. The shape of the vessel echoes that of pottery storage jars used to hold pulque. Its upper part is composed of encircling superimposed bands of human hearts, feathers and jade. The front bears a solar disk and the glyph 4 Movement, the symbol for the fifth epoch in the Aztec creation cycle. On the base beneath this is the glyph 1 Rain. On the obverse side a symbol for the moon is found together with the glyph 2 Rabbit, one of the calendrical names for the pulque god. The hollow basin on the top of the vessel and some details of the exterior surface were never completed. The object also shows signs of having been intentionally defaced, particularly at the sides. https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=424066001&amp;objectId=663723&amp;partId=1
context_page_description: The Aztec sun stone is a late post-classic Mexica sculpture housed in the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, and is perhaps the most famous work of Aztec sculpture. Its complex design and intricate glyphic language reflect that the stone is the product of a highly sophisticated culture. It measures 358 centimetres in diameter and 98 centimetres thick, and weighs 24,590 kg. Shortly after the Spanish conquest, the monolithic sculpture was buried in the Zócalo, the main square of Mexico City. It was rediscovered on 17 December 1790 during repairs on the Mexico City Cathedral. Following its rediscovery, the sun stone was mounted on an exterior wall of the Cathedral, where it remained until 1885. Early scholars initially thought that the stone was carved in the 1470s, though modern research suggests that it was carved some time between 1502 and 1521.
context_section_description: The Coronation Stone of Motecuhzoma II (also known as the Stone of the Five Suns) is a sculpture measuring 55.9 x 66 x 22.9 cm (22 x 26 x 9 in), currently in the possession of the Art Institute of Chicago. It bears similar hieroglyphic inscriptions to the Aztec Sun Stone, with 4-Movement at the center surrounded by 4-Jaguar, 4-Wind, 4-Rain, and 4-Water, all of which represent one of the five suns, or "cosmic eras". The year sign 11-Reed in the lower middle places the creation of this sculpture in 1503, the year of Motecuhzoma II's coronation, while 1-Crocodile, the day in the upper middle, may indicate the day of the ceremony. The date glyph 1-Rabbit on the back of the sculpture (not visible in the image to the right) orients Motecuhzoma II in the cosmic cycle because that date represents "the beginning of things in the distant mythological past."
  The Throne of Montezuma uses the same cardinal point iconography as part of a larger whole. The monument is on display at the National Museum of Anthropology alongside the Aztec Sun Stone and the Stone of Tizoc. The monument was discovered in 1831 underneath the National Palace in Mexico City and is approximately 1 meter square at the base and 1.23 meters tall. It is carved in a temple shape, and the year at the top, 2-House, refers to the traditional founding of Tenochtitlan in 1325 CE.
  The compass motif with Ollin can be found in stone alters built for the New Fire ceremony. Another object, the Ceremonial Seat of Fire which belongs to the Eusebio Davalos Hurtado Museum of Mexica Sculpture, is visually similar but omits the central Ollin image in favor of the Sun.
  The British Museum possesses a cuauhxicalli which may depict the tension between two opposites, the power of the sun (represented by the solar face) and the power of the moon (represented with lunar iconography on the rear of the object). This would be a parallel to the Templo Mayor with its depictions of Huitzilopochtli (as one of the two deities of the temple) and the large monument to Coyolxauhqui.
caption: This ritual object bears Sun Stone motifs
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