PXL_20250413_162248063

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:49:22 +0100

Group of Sculptures

These sculptures were found leaning over the main staircase of the Templo Mayor, corresponding to Stage III (1431 AD); this indicates that they were deposited as an offering by the Aztecs when they began
construction of Stage IV, dated towards 1454 A.D., time when Tenochtitlan was ruled by Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina or Motecuhzoma l.

Several of them belong to the type known as "standard bearer," since they have one of their hands in position to hold a flagpole. At the same time, they are the ones that show a cavity on their chests that probably was used to keep a green stone as a symbolic heart; as a matter of fact, one of them still has it. It is possible that they originally were found guarding the temples crowning the building.