Stone of Motecuhzoma I

The Stone of Motecuhzoma I (Mexica room of the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City).

The Stone of Motecuhzoma I is a large carved Aztec stone that was found in 1988 under the patio of the Edificio del Ex-Arzobispado in the Distrito Federal of Mexico. It is also known as the Stone of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, the Cuauhxicalli of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, the Archbishop's Stone, the Ex-Arzobispado Stone, or the Sánchez-Nava Monolith.

Discovery

Just south of the Templo Mayor in Mexico City lies the palace which used to house the Archbishop of Mexico. Built not long after the Spanish destroyed the ceremonial center of the Tenochtitlan, this palace was likely resting on many pre-Columbian artifacts. During July 1988, excavations under the palace patio revealed a large circular stone. It was immediately compared to the already widely known Stone of Tizoc and Calendar Stone.

Iconography

The large circular stone has a familiar solar relief on its top.

References

• Padilla, J., P. F. Sánchez-Nava and F. Solís Olguín (1989). "The Cuauhxicalli of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina". mexicon 11 (2): pp. 24–25. 
• Graulich, Michel (1992). "On the so-called "Cuauhxicalli of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina" the Sánchez-Nava Monolith". mexicon 14 (1): pp. 5–10. http://whp.uoregon.edu/vma_preview/Mexicon/xiv1Graulich.pdf. 

See also

• Stone of Tizoc
• Aztec sun stone