THE AZTECS 193 



oratories, sundry fasting houses, four bowl-shaped 

 stones, one disk-shaped stone, a great stepped altar, a 

 "star column," seven skull racks, two ball courts, two 

 enclosed areas, a well, three bathing places, two cellar- 

 like rooms, a dancing place, nine priest houses, a prison 

 for the gods of conquered nations, arsenals, work 

 places, etc. A native plan of the Tecpan, much sim- 

 plified, occurs in the Sahagun manuscript. The great 

 pyramid rose in several terraces and was surmounted 

 by two temples each three stories in height, one dedi- 

 cated to Huitzilopochtli and the other to Tlaloc. 

 Each temple contained an image of the god to which 

 it was dedicated and a sacrificial altar. The walls were 

 encrusted with blood of human victims whose hearts, 

 still beating, had been torn out for divine food and whose 

 bodies had been rolled down the steep flight of temple 

 stairs. The foundations for the great pyramids were 

 laid in 1447 by Moctezuma I, the pyramids were com- 

 pleted in 1485 while Tizoc was war chief and the final 

 dedication ceremonies were held in 1487. 



Several very interesting large sculptures and many 

 minor objects have been unearthed on the site of the 

 Tecpan. In 1790 and 1791 were found three famous 

 monoliths, the Calendar Stone, the Stone of Tizoc 

 'Sacrificial Stone), and the Statue of Coatlicue. Since 

 1897 many fine pieces of pottery and several sculptures 

 have been excavated near the Cathedral and placed in 

 the Museo Xacional. 



The Calendar Stone. The great sculptured monu- 

 ment known as the Calendar Stone or Stone of the Sun, 

 is the most valuable object that has come down intact 

 from the time of the Aztecs. It is a single piece of 

 porphyry, irregular except for the sculptured face. It 

 now weighs over twenty tons and it is estimated that 



