III. He bears two birds as a symbol.
IV. The claws or spikes on the backs of these are significant.
V. The mask with tusks over the head.
VI. The head worn at the belt.
VII. The captive trodden under foot.
VIII. The chain from the belt attached to a kind of ornament or symbol.
IX. The twisted flames (?) or winds (?) on each side of the figure.
X. His association with Quetzalcoatl or Cuculkan, as shown by the mouth with protruding tongue, and with Tlaloc or Tetzcatlipoca, as shown by the eagle’s head.
We may note here for reference the signification of one of the hieroglyphs in the right-hand half of [Fig. 52], i. e., in that half which contains only writing. The topmost chiffre is undoubtedly the name, or part of the name, of the principal figure represented in the other half. It is in pure picture-writing; that is, it expresses the sum of his attributes. It has the crotalus mask, with nose ornament, which he wears over his face; then the cross, with the “five feathers” of Mexico, and the sun symbol. These are in the middle of the chiffre. Below these the oval may be, and probably is, heaven, with the rain descending and producing from the surface of the earth (the long axis of the ellipse), the seed, of which three grains are depicted.
We know by the occurrence of the hieroglyphs on the reverse side of the stone that this is not of Aztec sculpture. These symbols are of the same sort as those at Copan, Palenque, etc., and I shall show later that some of them occur in the Palenque tablets. Hence, we know this engraving to be Yucatec and not Aztec in its origin. If it had been sculptured on one side only, and these hieroglyphs omitted, I am satisfied that the facts which I shall point out in the next paragraphs would have led to the conclusion that this stone was Mexican in its origin. Fortunately the native artist had the time to sculpture the Yucatec hieroglyphs, which are the proof of its true origin. It was not dropped by a traveling Aztec; it was made by a Yucatec.