Monstrous Sculpture representing Coatlicue, the Serpent-Skirted Goddess, who was regarded as the Mother of the Gods.
The famous statue of the Earth Goddess, Coatlicue, “the goddess with the serpent skirt,” is one of the most striking examples of barbaric imagination. The name Teoyamiqui is often given to this uncouth figure, but the identification is faulty. Like the other great sculptures we have just examined, it doubtless occupied an important place in the great ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan, but no ancient reference to it is extant. This goddess is reported to have been the mother of the gods.
Fig. 72. Detail showing the Construction of the Face of Coatlicue from Two Serpent Heads meeting End to End.
The statue may be described as follows: The feet are furnished with claws. The skirt is a writhing mass of braided rattlesnakes. The arms are doubled up and the hands are snake heads on a level with the shoulders. Around the neck and hanging down over the breast is a necklace of alternating hands and hearts with a death’s head pendant. The head of this monstrous woman is the same on front and back and is formed of two serpent heads that meet face to face. The forked tongue and the four downward pointing fangs belong half and half to each of the two profile faces.
Mexican Writing.
The means of record employed in Mexican codices are in part pictographic and in part hieroglyphic. The sequence of the historical events in these native manuscripts is often indicated by a line of footprints leading from one place or scene of action to another. Historical records of this type resemble old-fashioned maps and some are actually called maps. The names of towns in these documents are represented by true hieroglyphs and often the character of the country is indicated by pictures of typical vegetation, such as maguey plants for the highlands and palms for the lowlands. The day or the year in which took place the foundation of the town or whatever event is intended to be recorded is usually placed in conjunction with the hieroglyph or picture. Conquest is indicated by a place name hieroglyph with a spear thrust into it or by a temple on fire, while warfare is a shield and bundle of lances encircled by footprints.
Fig. 73. Hieroglyphs of Precious Materials: left to right, gold; turquoise; mosaic of precious stones; chalchihuitl, or jade; mirror of obsidian.