198 



MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



to large bowls which were used to hold the blood and 

 the heart of human victims sacrificed to the gods. The 

 same name was extended to the large drum-shaped 

 stone, under consideration, which has a pit in the center 

 and a sort of canal running from the center to one side 

 which may have been intended to drain off the blood. 



Human sacrifice actually 

 took place on this stone 

 but it is pretty certain 

 that it was not one of the 

 temalacatl or "gladiator 

 stones" on which were 

 staged mortal combats 

 as ceremonies. Accord- 

 ing to description the 

 gladiator stones were 

 pierced by a hole in the 

 center so that one or more 

 captives could be bound 

 fast by a rope. 



On the top of the Stone 

 of Tizoc is a representa- 

 tion of the Tonatiuh, or 

 sun's disk, much less com- 

 plex than that which we have seen on the Calendar Stone 

 but with many similar parts. On the sides of the stone are 

 fifteen groups of figures, each group representing a con- 

 queror and his captive. The victorious soldier appears 

 each time in the guise of the war god, Huitzilopochtli, 

 or his wizard brother Tezcatlipoca. The left foot of the 

 figure ends in two scroll-like objects that may repre- 

 sent the humming bird feathers that formed the left 

 foot of Huitzilopochtli. But Tezcatlipoca also had a 

 deformed foot. Moreover, on the side of the head- 

 dress is a disk with a flame-shaped object coming- 



Fig. 69. Details from the Stone 

 of Tizoc: a, Huitzilopochtli, Aztec 

 War God; b, figures representing 

 a captured town; c, name of the 

 captured town (Tuxpan, place of 

 the rabbits). 



