THE AZTECS L99 



out of it. This may represent the smoking mirror 

 of Tezcatlipoca. The captive wears costumes that 

 change slightly from one figure to the next. Over the 

 head of the captive in each instance is the hieroglyph 

 of a captured town or district. 



Nearly all the place name hieroglyphs have been 

 deciphered. The list is interesting historically because 

 it gives the principal conquests up to the reign of Tizoc. 

 Starting at the side directly across the stone from the 

 groove or drain we see that the figure of the victor has 

 behind his head a hieroglyph that represents a leg. 

 This is the hieroglyph of Tizoc and the victim in this 

 case represents the district of Matlatzinco in the Val- 

 ley of Toluca. This district was brought under sub- 

 jection by Tizoc himself. Among the other conquered 

 cities are such well-known ones as Chalco, Xochimilco, 

 and Colhuacan in the vicinity of Lake Tezcoco and 

 Ahuilizapan (Orizaba) and Tuxpan that are more 

 distant. 



Coatlicue. The famous statue of the Earth God- 

 dess. Coatlicue, "the goddess with the serpent skirt" 

 is one of the most striking examples of barbaric imagi- 

 nation. The name Teoyamiqui is often given to this 

 uncouth figure, but the identification is faulty. Like 

 the other great sculptures we have just examined, it 

 doubtless occupied an important place in the great 

 ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan, but no ancient 

 reference to it is extant. This goddess is reported to 

 have been the mother of the gods. 



The statue may be described as follows: The feet 

 are furnished with claws. The skirt is a writhing mass 

 of braided rattlesnakes. The arms are doubled up and 

 the hands are -nake heads on a level with the shoulders. 

 Around the neck and hanging down over the breast 



