Editing Tlaltecuhtli (section)

== Monolith ==
[[File:Templo_Mayor_2015_183.jpg|alt=|thumb|Tlaltecuhtli monolith on display in the Museum of the Templo Mayor]]
In 2006, a massive [[monolith]] of Tlaltecuhtli was discovered in an excavation at the [[Templo Mayor]] in [[Tenochtitlan]] (modern-day [[Mexico City]]).<ref>[http://atlantisonline.smfforfree2.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=19793.0 Stefan Lovgren, "Aztec Temple found in Mexico City", ''National Geographic News'', October 5, 2006.]</ref> The sculpture measures approximately 13.1 x 11.8 feet (4 x 3.6 meters) and weighs nearly 12 tons, making it one of the largest Aztec monoliths ever discovered—larger even than the [[Aztec calendar stone|Calendar Stone]]. The sculpture, carved in a block of pink andesite, presents the goddess in her typical [[squatting position]] and is vividly painted in red, white, black, and blue. The stone was found by archaeologists broken into 4 pieces. Reassembled, Tlaltecuhtli's skull and bones skirt, and the river of blood flowing from her mouth, can be seen.

Though most renderings of Tlaltecuhtli were placed face down, this monolith was found face up. Clutched in her lower right claw is the year glyph for 10 rabbit (1502 CE). Lopez Lujan noted that according to the surviving codices, 1502 was the year that one of the empire's most feared rulers, [[Ahuitzotl]], was laid to rest.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Tlaltecuhtli|last=Lopez Lujan|first=Leondardo|publisher=Sextil Editores|year=2010|location=Mexico City}}</ref> Just below this monument, Offering 126 was found, a huge dedicatory deposit containing 12 thousand objects.

After several years of excavation and restoration, the monolith can be seen on display at the Museum of the Templo Mayor in Mexico City.