Aztec calendar stone

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Mexica Sun Stone

Material	Basalt
Discovered	17 December 1790 at El Zócalo, Mexico City
Present location	National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City

The Aztec calendar stone, Mexica sun stone, or Stone of the Sun (Spanish: Piedra del Sol), is a large monolithic sculpture that was excavated in the Zócalo, Mexico City's main square, on December 17, 1790.^[1]

1 Description
2 See also
3 References
4 Sources
5 External links

Description

Measuring about 3.6 metres (12 ft) in diameter, 1.22 metres (4 ft) in thickness and weighing 24 tonnes,^[2] the original basalt version is presently on display at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park. It is often informally considered to be one of the national symbols of Mexico. This basalt sculpture is a representation of the Aztec calendar.

References

^ Florescano, Enrico (2006). National Narratives in Mexico. Nancy T. Hancock (trans.), Raul Velasquez (illus.) (English-language edition of Historia de las historias de la nación mexicana, ©2002 [Mexico City:Taurus] ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3701-0. OCLC 62857841.
^ Aztecs: Reign of Blood and Splendor. Virginia:Time Life, 1992.

Sources

León y Gama, Antonio de. Descripción histórica y cronológica de las dos piedras: que con ocasión del empedrado que se está formando en la plaza Principal de México, se hallaron en ella el año de 1790. Impr. de F. de Zúñiga y Ontiveros, 1792. An expanded edition, with descriptions of additional sculptures (like the Stone of Tizoc), edited by Carlos Maria Bustamante, published in 1832. There have been a couple of facsimile editions, published in the 1980s and 1990s.