The Sacrificial Stone or Stone of Tizoc is believed to have been carved by order of Tizoc, the war chief who ruled from 1482-1486, as a memorial offering to Mexican arms on the completion of the great temple to the Mexican God of War. The stone was a quauhxicalli, or “eagle bowl.” This name was given to large bowls which were used to hold the blood and the heart of human victims sacrificed to the gods. The same name was extended to the large drum-shaped stone, under consideration, which has a pit in the center and a sort of canal running from the center to one side which may have been intended to drain off the blood. Human sacrifice actually took place on this stone but it is pretty certain that it was not one of the temalacatl or “gladiator stones” on which were staged mortal combats as ceremonies. According to description the gladiator stones were pierced by a hole in the center so that one or more captives could be bound fast by a rope.
Fig. 71. Details from the Stone of Tizoc: a, Huitzilopochtli, Aztec War God; b, Figures representing a captured town; c, Name of the captured town (Tuxpan, place of the rabbit).
[Plate XLIV.]
The newly discovered “National Stone” of Mexico. The front view shows the Calendar Stone in position and the year signs 1 Rabbit and 2 Reed (1506 and 1507 A. D.). The sculpture on the back is an eagle on a cactus, recording the foundation of Mexico City (Tenochtitlan). On all the other surfaces priests and religious symbols are drawn.
On the top of the Stone of Tizoc is a representation of Tonatiuh, or the sun’s disk, much less complex than that which we have seen on the Calendar Stone but with many similar parts. On the sides of the stone are fifteen groups of figures, each group representing a conqueror and his captive. The victorious soldier appears each time in the guise of the war god, Huitzilopochtli, or his wizard brother Tezcatlipoca. The left foot of the figure ends in two scroll-like objects that may represent the humming bird feathers that formed the left foot of Huitzilopochtli. But Tezcatlipoca also had a deformed foot. Moreover, on the side of the headdress is a disk with a flame-shaped object coming 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 Valley of Toluca. This district was brought under subjection by Tizoc himself. Among the other conquered cities are such well-known ones as Chalco, Xochimilco, and Colhuacan in the vicinity of Lake Texcoco and Ahuilizapan (Orizaba) and Tuxpan that are more distant.