Ocelotl signifies "jaguar" in nahuatl and cuauhxicalli means literally"eagle gourd." This particular cuauhxicalli (vessel) has the shape of a jaguar and was used by the Aztecs to keep their most sacred offerings, human hearts. The oldest representations of this kind were found at Chichen Itza, so tradition may date to the Toltec era or earlier. In the Popol Vuh, the messenger owls are told to sacrifice Blood Woman, pregnant with the Hero Twins, and to bring back the heart in a gourd bowl, perhaps in a cuauhxicalli.
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