Tlaltehcutli

The Las Ajarcas Monolith is of Tlaltecuhtli
ARTURO JIMENEZ
November 18, 2006
La Jornada
This is the November 17, 2006 Edition
Matos Moctezuma confirms this is the Mexica Earth Goddess
The Las Ajaracas monolith is of Tlaltecuhtli
Mexica goddess Tlaltecuhtli, discovered in Las Ajaracas, lot where the archaelological findings continue

Mexico City - There is no doubt, the huge Mexica monolith found a few weeks ago in Templo Mayor, in the Las Ajaracas lot, represents the Earth Goddess Tlatecuhtli, devourer of cadavers and the dusk sun, confirmed yesterday the archaeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma.

But also, the researcher offered the hypothesis that this sacred stone, now free of a floor and a layer of soil that hid it both from the common inhabitants of the Great Tenochtitlan, and the Spaniards, could be Auizotl’s tombstone, Tlatoani (Emperor) that ruled the Triple Alliance from 1486 to 1502, and was buried there some years before the conquest started.

Located at the bottom of the stairs of Templo Mayor, the monolith was shown yesterday for the first time to the media and, despite being fractured in four big parts, is in excellent shape, with its human face, claws in hands and feet, and in birthing position.

This deity, that also was represented in its male phase and that was created with pink andesite and decorated in red, ocre, black, and white, could be appreciated in situ after its restoration and located in a kind of dome for outdoor protection.

In the presence of Luciano Cedillo, director of the National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH), and the archaeologists in charge of the project, like Alvaro Barrera, Matos Moctezuma described that the piece “wears a small skirt adorned with skulls and crossed bones, in addition of showing the dorsal adornment of stripes and snails, exclusive of female deities associated with the earth and the nocturnal. Also it has unique elements, like skulls in elbows and knees, and paper flags in the hair, symbols respectively of death and sacrifice”.

The archaeological findings continue and, for instance, only this past Tuesday a tomb was located at one side of the monolith not yet explored but that contains some human and animal bones.

With the participation of the Federal District Government, that acquired the lots in Guatemala and Argentina streets and donated them to INAH, the research and restoration activities are just beginning.

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