The Aztec Calendar

1. The Aztec Calendar Fabiola Cortes-Villena Literature and Science April 29th, 2002 (Also available on the web at http://fabiolacortes.tripod.com/calendar.html)

2. Sun Stone • Weighs 25 tons, has a diameter of just under 12 feet, and a thickness of 3 feet. • Carved in 1479. • Discovered on December 17th, 1760 • Buried under the zocalo, or main square in Mexico city. • Embedded into a wall inside the metropolitan cathedral. • Moved to the National museum of Anthropology and History in 1885. (Montalvo)

3. What the sun stone represents • It represents how the Aztec world began, how it would continue and when it would reach its inevitable end. • The Aztec were living in 5th and last creation of the world. • Each creation was a “sun” because movement of the sun maintained human life. • The four previous suns and the dates they perished surround the Sun God: Tonatiuh

4. The Center of the Sun Stone

5. Aztec Calendar • Based on the early Maya Calendar System. • Apparently was developed following cues and astronomic observations. • Exactly how they came up with it, remains a puzzle.

6. Maya Vs. Aztec Calendar • The Maya had three different calendars in their system, whereas the Aztec only adopted two of them: • Xiupohualli or year-count • Tonalpohualli or day-count • The Aztec had a more primitive numeric system and less precise way of recording dates: • Aztec event recording only included the day and name of the year. This was ambiguous because: • The same day can occur twice in a year • Years with the same name occur every 52 years

7. Xiupohualli (year count) • Also called the solar calendar. • Used to determine many ceremonies and rituals linked to agricultural cycles. • 18 20-day months + 5-day period = 365 days (like the Maya Haab). • Each month had 4 5-day weeks.

8. Tonalpohualli (day count) • Also called the sacred calendar. • Used for divinatory purposes by a priest who would cast horoscopes and predict favorable and unfavorable days. • 20 13-day weeks = 260 days (like the Maya Tzolkin). • “A day (tonalli) in the Tenalpohualli consist of a number and a symbol or day sign, each daysign is dedicated to a God. The twenty days and their Gods are successively.” (The system of the Tonalpohualli) • Crucial to the balance of the universe.

9. Tonalpohualli (cont.) • According to the Aztecs, the universe is in a very delicate equilibrium: • The world is always on the edge of a war of gods, who are constantly competing for supreme power . • Gods need to have their own space, rituals, social groups, and of course their own sacrifices. • The Tonalpohualli tells how time is to be divided among the gods. (Voorburg)

10. Aztec “Century” • Every 52 years both calendars meet, and a new “century” in the Aztec calendar cycle begins. • 12-day Celebration • Fasting • Human Sacrifices

11. Today • The sun stone representing the Aztec calendar is perhaps the most famous symbol of Mexico, besides the flag. • Parts and bits of the “Sun Stone” can also be found on Mexican currency. • “In general, the uses and meaning of the sunstone is ignored and a completely agreed-upon interpretation has not been reached for this magnific monument.” (Mexica Sunstone) • The Tonalpohualli is still in use among the present-day inhabitants of native regions in Mexico. (Richards, 187)

12. References Mexica Sunstone. 1996. http://www.geocities.com/a1ma_mia/sunstone/ Montalvo, Fanya S. The Aztec Calendar. 1995. http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/montalvo/Hotlist/aztec.html Richards, E. G. Mapping Time: The Calendar and its History. Oxford University Press: New York, 1998. 186-195 The system of the Tonalpohualli.http://www.artcamp.com.mx/AZ/9.html Voorburg, René. The Aztec Calendar. http://www.azteccalendar.com/