Editing Tlaltecuhtli (section)

== Representations in art ==
[[File:Tlaltecuhtli_codex_painting.jpg|alt=|thumb|Depiction of Tlaltecuhtli in the Codex Borbonicus (ca. 1520), shown with a flint knife between her teeth]]
Tlaltecuhtli is typically depicted as a squatting toad-like creature with massive claws, a gaping mouth, and crocodile skin, which represented the surface of the earth. In carvings, her mouth is often shown with a river of blood flowing from it or a flint knife between her teeth, a reference to the human blood she thirsted for. Her elbows and knees are often adorned with human skulls, and she sometimes appears with multiple mouths full of sharp teeth all over her body. In some images, she wears a skirt made of human bones and a star border, a symbol of her primordial sacrifice.<ref name=":0" />

Many sculptures of Tlaltecuhtli were meant only for the gods and were not intended to be seen by humans. She was often carved onto the bottom of sculptures where they made contact with the earth, or on the undersides of stone boxes called ''[[cuauhxicalli]]'' ("eagle box"), which held the sacrificial hearts she was so partial to. In reference to her mythological function as the support of the earth, Tlaltecuhtli was sometimes carved onto the cornerstones of temples, such as the pyramid platform at [[El Tajín|El Tajin]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/tlaltecuhtli-the-monstrous-aztec-goddess-169344|title=Mother Earth for the Aztecs Was a Horrific, Demanding Monster|work=ThoughtCo|access-date=2018-10-08}}</ref>

Tlaltecuhtli's importance in the Mexica pantheon is demonstrated by her inclusion in major works of art. A representation of the goddess can be found on each side of the 1503 CE Coronation Stone of the Aztec ruler [[Moctezuma II]], alongside the glyphs for fire and water — traditional symbols of war. Historian Mary Miller even suggests that Tlaltecuhtli may be the face in the center of the famous [[Aztec calendar stone|Aztec Calendar Stone]] (Piedra del Sol), where she symbolizes the end of the 5th and final Aztec cosmos.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion|last=Miller|first=Mary Ellen and Karl Taube|publisher=Thames and Hudson|year=1993|location=London}}</ref>

Tlaltecuhtli appears in the [[Aztec calendar]] as the 2nd of the 13 deity days, and her date glyph is 1 Rabbit.