| Object Name: | Stone of Tizoc (temalacatl) |
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| Creation Date: | 1325-1521 A. D. | |
| Culture: | Aztec, Post-Classic | |
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| The Stone of Tizoc is the first great Aztec monument that can be dated and attributed by glyph to a known ruler Tizoc, who ruled between 1481 and 1486. On the top of the cylinder is an ornate sun disk with eight rays. The side has a sky border of stars at the top and a border representing the maw of the earth monster on the bottom: in the frieze are fifteen pairs of figures, each pair consisting of an Aztec warrior holding a captive by the hair. Each captive is identified by a different glyph. The warrior and prisoner pairs and identifying glyphs come from the tradition of Aztec historical manuscript painting, as the illustration of the conquest by the Aztec from other tribes on the codices. The left leg of each of the fifteen conquering warriors ends in a smoking design rather than a foot, and of the patron gods of rulers. Only one of the fifteen conquerors is identified by the "leg" symbol, the glyph of Tizoc, and he wears the hummingbird helmet of the god Huitzilopochtli; of the fifteen figures, therefore, only one represents Tizoc. The number fifteen probably represented the Aztec military and political divisions led by the ruler at the time of Tizoc. | ||
