Mexican archæology : $b an introduction to the archæology of the Mexican and Mayan civilizations of pre-Spanish AmericaJoyce, Thomas Athol
History
Mexican archæology : $b an introduction to the archæology of the Mexican and Mayan civilizations of pre-Spanish America
Joyce, Thomas Athol
Mayas -- Antiquities; Mexico -- Antiquities
respectively to Uitzilopochtli (towards the south) and Tlaloc (towards
the north), and faced west, but the priests and worshippers would face
east, the direction of the rising sun, and there is reason to believe
that the equinox was calculated by observing the rising of the sun
between the two shrines. In front of the latter was the sacrificial
stone, and below, in the court, a number of other temples, priestly
residences, and other ceremonial buildings, including a tlaxtli-court
and the tzompantli, or frame upon which were erected the skulls of
sacrificial victims. The other temples in the court included one to
Tezcatlipoca, one in circular form to Quetzalcoatl, and one to the
planet Venus (Tlauizcalpantecutli), whose image was painted on a pillar
in the shrine. The Tlaltelolco temple was similar, though a little
larger, and supported two shrines dedicated, the one to Uitzilopochtli
and the other to Tezcatlipoca. Larger than either of these imposing
buildings was the teocalli of Quetzalcoatl at Cholula. This still
exists, though in sadly mutilated form; the length of its base was
calculated by Humboldt as nearly 440 metres. For an example of an
ordinary Mexican shrine, as exemplified in ruins, it is necessary to
go outside what is strictly Aztec territory. Near Cuernavaca, in the
Tlalhuica district, among rocky peaks towering above the valley, is
the temple of Tepoztlan (Pl. XIV, 2), dedicated probably to one of the
octli-gods (Tepoztecatl). This region formed one of the early Mexican
conquests and the temple bears the name of the Mexican king Auitzotl
and the date of his death. Seen from the east, the building appears to
be a three-tiered pyramid, the upper tier in reality being the back of
the shrine. The walls are of porous volcanic stone set in mortar, and
the roof was similarly constructed. The shrine is a simple rectangular
building with an inner chamber (of the type Fig. 76, 4; p. 327), and
the interior is ornamented with carvings. The front wall is pierced by
three doorways, separated by quadrangular pillars, which are in reality
sections of the wall. In front, on the lower terrace, is a quadrangular
“altar,” probably corresponding to the quauhxicalli at Mexico. Another,
and somewhat similar temple, also apparently of Aztec origin, is found
at Teayo, near Tuxpan in the Huaxtec country. This is a three-tiered
pyramid, about forty feet high, faced with sandstone blocks over which
a coat of stucco has been laid. At the top is a simple quadrangular
shrine (of the type Fig. 76, 1), with stuccoed and frescoed interior,
standing on a low terrace. The stairway is on the west side, and
the worshippers therefore faced east, as in the case of the temples
already mentioned. This, we are told, was the proper orientation for
Mexican temples of the first importance. But of far greater interest
and importance than these two small temples are the extensive remains
at Teotihuacan, close to Mexico, a site intimately connected with the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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