Last modified September 28, 2013.
• Aztec dimensions of holiness by John E. Clark.Illustrations by Terry SummersonPhoto of original Tizoc Stone by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore.
Mesoamerica and the North American Southwest, Some thoughts on the design of the Tizoc Stone, Some thoughts on the design of the Aztec Sun Stone, Pic 1: Plaster copy of the Tizoc Stone, Haslemere Educational Museum, Surrey (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 2: List of Aztec linear measurements (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 3: Roll-out image of the design on the frieze (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 4: One section of the frieze (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 5: Another section of the frieze (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 6: And another... (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 7: The top face of the Tizoc Stone (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 8: Comparison of the designs of the frieze and the top face (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 9: The many concentric circles within the top face design (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 10: Table of distances between the circles (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 11: Revised table of distances between the concentric circles (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 12: Artist’s impression of the reconstructed top of the Tizoc Stone, (Click on image to enlarge), Pic 13: The original Tizoc Stone, National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City (Click on image to enlarge).
The Tizoc Stone is a huge stone cylinder from the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan which depicts a sun-disk on its flat upper surface and carries a frieze around its outer edge showing Aztec warriors and the Aztec king Tizoc, whose reign from 1481 to 1486 CE was troubled by rebellions across the empire. The obvious depiction of the various victories of Tizoc has been incorporated magnificently into a complex combination of equally spaced symbols both angularly and linearly.I can only wonder if the alignment of the various patterns within the design has some other deeper meaning.The use of Aztec dimensions has helped to see meaning in the structure of the design and has given some insight into the artist’s knowledge of mathematics. The Tizoc Stone is a large stone cylinder constructed in a similar fashion to the famous Aztec calendar. The Stone of Tizoc is one of the most important and impressive of the carved Aztec artefacts. Made from basalt it is approximately 2660 mm in diameter and 880mm high and features on its upper surface an image of the sun and around the sides are relief carvings showing fifteen pairs of warrior figures positioned between decorations depicting the earth and sky (see pic 1).There have been many articles written about the history of the stone and the possible meaning of the pictures and symbols present on the stone but very few of them deal with the actual design and methods used in its construction. In addition I had found a reference stating that the inner bowl was 450mm diameter or 26 fingers. IntroductionThe Stone of Tizoc is one of the most important and impressive of the carved Aztec artefacts. Is the chacmool anything to do with the ballgame?
The stone above the star pattern was badly damaged along the edge and so was difficult to measure; however it was at least I finger deep with another finger for the depth of the relief carving which would give a total design of 50 fingers to the overall height of the stone. Most of these measurements are multiples of the basic finger length which is equivalent to 17.4mm which when applied to the sizes quoted for the Tizoc stone gives a height of 50.57 fingers (880x17.4) and a diameter of 152.87 fingers (2660x17.4).
Ancient History Encyclopedia, 28 Sep 2013. The top faceThe design on the top is a typical Aztec sun motif (pic 7).There are various segments comprising the design and these are:-8 sun rays16 blood collectors 32 dots 48 turquoise patterns96 feather patterns16 circles inner ring40 circles middle ring pearls48 circles outer ring pearls. The damage to the edges of the stone makes accurate measuring difficult, combined with the stone being in the shape of a cylinder and having such a profusion of images makes it difficult to perceive the design methods and construction lines used. Related Content
In the richly carved depictions, the warriors are not only conquering earthly enemies, but gods as well.
The stone was almost certainly used during sacrificial ceremonies in either fighting …
Ancient History Encyclopedia. Naturally, the victim had no possibility to survive this ordeal or even inflict any injury on his opponents as not only was he tied to the circular stone platform (temalacatl) but his weapon was usually a feathered club while his opponents had vicious razor-sharp obsidian swords or clubs (macuauhuitl). The second book, Harbinger of the Storm is primarily set during the election of Tizoc as tlatoani after the death of Axayacatl.