Editing Coyolxāuhqui (section)

== Templo Mayor stone disk ==
=== Discovery ===
[[File:MAF 0019174-038 (33327115952).jpg|left|thumb|Archaeologists of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia working at the place were the stone was discovered, 1978.]]

On February 21, 1978, a group of workers for the Mexico City electric power company came across a large shield-shaped stone covered in reliefs while digging.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=MATOS MOCTEZUMA|first=EDUARDO|title=Archaeology & Symbolism in Aztec Mexico: The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan |date=December 1985|journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion|volume=53|issue=4 |pages=797–813|doi=10.1093/jaarel/liii.4.797}}</ref> The stone they uncovered depicts the narrative of Coyolxāuhqui's defeat at Coatepec, shown at left. The discovery renewed the interest in excavating the ancient city of [[Tenochtitlán]] underneath [[Mexico City]]. This led to the excavation of the Huēyi Teōcalli ([[Templo Mayor]]), directed by [[Eduardo Matos Moctezuma]].<ref name=":2" />[[File:Coyolxauhqui en el Museo Nacional de Antropología.JPG|right|thumb|Head of Coyolxāuhqui; circa 1500; [[diorite]]; 80 x 80 x 65 cm; [[National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico)|National Museum of Anthropology]] ([[Mexico City]]). As usual, she is shown decapitated and with closed eyelids, as her brother, Huitzilopochtli, beheaded her.|220x220px]]
This relief is one of the best known Aztec monuments and one of the few great Aztec monuments to have been found fully ''in situ''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Boone|first=Elizabeth|title=The "Coatlicues" at the Templo Mayor |date=1999|journal=Ancient Mesoamerica|volume=10|issue=2 |page=189|doi=10.1017/s0956536199102098|s2cid=161679253 }}</ref>
=== Location ===
The Coyolxāuhqui stone sat at the base of the stairs of the Huēyi Teōcalli, the primary temple of the Mexica in Tenochtitlan, on the side dedicated to Huitzilopochtli.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Matos Moctezuma|first=Eduardo|date=October 1983|title=Symbolism of the Templo Mayor|journal=The Aztec Templo Mayor: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks|page=192}}</ref> The stone laid in the center of a platform that extended from the foot of the stairway. The temple is dedicated to Huītzilōpōchtli and the rain deity [[Tlāloc]].<ref name=":3" /> Scholars believe that Mexica artists and builders incorporated images of the Coatepec narrative into the Huēyi Teōcalli during a major renovation from the years [[Aztec calendar|4 Reed to 8 Reed]] (1483–1487) under the rule of Ahuitzotl.<ref name=":3" />

Eduardo Matos Moctezuma first noted that the monument's placement at the bottom of the Templo Mayor commemorated the history of Huītzilōpōchtli defeating Coyolxāuhqui in the battle on Mount Coatepetel. Matos Moctezuma has argued that the section of the Huēyi Teōcalli dedicated to Huītzilōpōchtli represents the sacred mountain of Coatepec where Huītzilōpōchtli was born and Coyolxāuhqui died.<ref name=":4" />

The Coyolxāuhqui stone was located in what was named Phase IV of the Templo Mayor during its excavation.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|last=Aveni|first=A.|date=April 1988|title=Myth, Environment, and the Orientation of the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan|journal=American Antiquity|volume=53|issue=2 |pages=287–309|doi=10.2307/281020|jstor=281020 |s2cid=162323851 }}</ref>

=== Creation ===
[[Image:Coyolxāuhqui.jpg|right|thumb|Original coloration of the stone disk, based on chemical traces of pigments.]]
The artist of the Coyolxāuhqui stone carved this disk in [[Relief|high relief]] out of a single large stone, 3.25 meters in diameter. Aztec historian Richard Townsend describes it as one of Mesoamerican art's most powerfully expressive sculptures,  using "an assurance of design and a technical virtuosity not previously seen at the pyramids."<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |title=The Aztecs |last=Townsend |first=Richard F. |date=2009 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-28791-0 |edition=3rd |location=London |page=158}}</ref>

The stone was likely created under the rule of Axayacatl (1469–1481).<ref name=":5" /> 

=== Imagery ===
On the disk, Coyolxāuhqui lies on her back, with her head, arms, and legs severed from her body. Her head faces upwards, away from her torso and in profile view, with her mouth open. Her dismembered torso lies flat on her back. Her breasts sag downward. Her body is neatly yet dynamically organized within the circular composition. Scallop-shaped carvings line the points of decapitation and dismemberment at her neck, shoulders, and hip joints. In this representation, Coyolxāuhqui is nearly naked, barring her serpent loincloth.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Klein|first=Cecilia|date=1994|title=Fighting with femininity: Gender and war in Aztec Mexico|journal=Estudios de cultura náhuat|volume=24|pages=22}}</ref> She wears only the ritual attire of bells in her hair, a bell symbol on her cheek, and a feathered headdress.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |title=The Aztecs |last=Townsend |first=Richard F. |date=2009 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-28791-0 |edition=3rd |location=London |page=159}}</ref> These objects identify her as Coyolxauhqui. She wears a skull tied to a belt of snakes around her waist and an [[ear tab]] showing the [[Mexica]] year sign. Snake, skull, and earth monster imagery surround her.<ref name=":8" />
[[File:MaquizcoatlCoyolxauhqui.jpg|thumb|Double-headed serpents restraining the joints of Coyolxāuhqui next to reference of a [[double-headed serpent]] sculpture.]]
In the image to the right, which represents the original colors of the stone, Coyolxāuhqui's yellow body lies before a red background. Bright blue colors her headdress and various details in the carving. White bones emerge from the scalloped, dismembered body parts.

The [[double-headed serpent]], also known as Maquizcoatl, were negative omens that could indicate death. Associated with Huītzilōpōchtli, as it was one of his names, creates a tie between the siblings. Coyolxāuhqui's joints being restrained by Maquizcoatl is both symbolic of her duty to serve a warning as well as identifying.<ref name=":9" /> 

=== Uses ===
The Coyolxāuhqui stone would have served as a cautionary sign to the enemies of Tenochtitlán. According to Aztec history, female deities such as Coyolxāuhqui were the first Aztec enemies to die in war. In this, Coyolxāuhqui came to represent all conquered enemies. Her violent death was a warning for the fate of those who crossed the Mexica people.<ref name=":7" /> Richard Townsend notes that the disk represented the defeat of the Aztecs' enemies.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Aztecs|last=Townsend|first=Richard|date=1992|publisher=Thames and Hudson|isbn=0500021139|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aztecstown00town/page/161 161]|oclc=26265803|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aztecstown00town/page/161}}</ref> 

Sacrificial victims crossed this stone before walking up the stairs of the temple to the block in front of Huītzilōpōchtli's shrine.<ref name=":6" />