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THE AZTEC GODDESS OF THE EARTH 



The famous statue of the Aztec Goddess of the Earth called Coatlicue, "The Serpent-skirted One." 

 is a striking example of barbaric imagination. It was found in Mexico City near the Cathedral in the 

 year 1791. It doubtless occupied an important place in the great ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan, 

 the Aztec capital, and probably dates from the last quarter of the loth century. 



The head, which is the same on front and back, is formed by two repulsive serpent heads meeting 

 face to face. The feet are furnished with claws, but the arms, which are doul>led up with the elbows 

 close to the sides, end each in a serpent's head. The skirt is a writhing mass of braided rattlesnakes. 

 The creature wears about the neck and hanging down over the breast a necklace of human hands and 

 hearts with a death's head pendant in the center. Coatlicue seems to have been regarded as a 

 very old wcuuan and as the mother of the Aztec gods. 



