THE AZTECS 195 



the original weight was over twice as much. The 

 sculptured disk is about twelve feet in diameter. This 

 great stone was transported by men over many miles 

 of marshy lake bottom before it could be placed in 

 position in front of the Temple of the Sun in the temple 

 enclosure that has just been described. It is believed 

 to have been set up horizontally and to have served as 

 a sort of altar upon which human victims were sacri- 

 ficed. The stone was doubtless thrown down from its 

 original position by the soldiers of Cortez and may 

 have been lost to sight. We know, however, that it 

 was exposed to view about 1560 and was then buried 

 by order of the archbishop of Mexico City lest its 

 presence should cause the- Indians to revert to their 

 original pagan beliefs. It was rediscovered in 1790 

 and was afterwards built into the facade of the Cathe- 

 dral where it remained until 1885, when it was removed 

 to the nearby museum. 



The Calendar Stone is not only a symbol of the sun's 

 face marked with the divisions of the year but it is a 

 record of the cosmogonic myth of the Aztecs and the 

 creations and destructions of the world. In the center 

 is the face of the sun god, Tonatiuh, enclosed in the 

 middle of the symbol called Olin. Tonatiuh is often 

 represented by a much simpler sign of a circle with 

 four or more subdivisions resembling those of a compass 

 which are intended to represent the rays of the sun. 

 Olin is one of the day signs and means movement, or 

 perhaps earthquake. It has also been explained as a 

 graphic representation of the apparent course of the 

 sun during the year. The history of the world, accord- 

 ing to the Aztecan myth, is divided into five suns or 

 ages, four of which refer to the past and one to the 

 present. The present sun is called Olin Tonatiuh be- 

 cause it is destined to be destroyed by an earthquake. 



