Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T05:05:43.993Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Decapitated Lunar Goddesses in Aztec Art, Myth, and Ritual

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Susan Milbrath
Susan Milbrath
Affiliation:
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Aztec images of decapitated goddesses link the symbolism of astronomy with politics and the seasonal cycle. Rituals reenacting decapitation may refer to lunar events in the context of a solar calendar, providing evidence of a luni-solar calendar. Decapitation imagery also involves metaphors expressing the rivalry between the cults of the sun and the moon. Huitzilopochtli's decapitation of Coyolxauhqui can be interpreted as a symbol of political conquest linked to the triumph of the sun over the moon. Analysis of Coyolxauhqui's imagery and mythology indicates that she represents the full moon eclipsed by the sun. Details of the decapitation myth indicate specific links with seasonal transition and events taking place at dawn and at midnight. Other decapitated goddesses, often referred to as earth goddesses with “lunar connections,” belong to a complex of lunar deities representing the moon within the earth (the new moon). Cihuacoatl, a goddess of the new moon, takes on threatening quality when she assumes the form of a tzitzimime attacking the sun during a solar eclipse. The demonic new moon was greatly feared, for it could cause an eternal solar eclipse bringing the Aztec world to an end.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , Fall 1997 , pp. 185 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aguilera, Carmen 1978 Coyolxauhqui: Ensayo iconográfico. Serie Investigación No. 2, Cuadernos de la Biblioteca. Biblioteca del Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Aguilera, Carmen 1979 Coyolxauhqui y la vía lactea. Ciencia y Desarollo enero-febrero 24: 6–10.Google Scholar
Aguilera, Carmen 1985 Reconstrucción de la policromía de Coyolxauhqui. In De la historia, homenaje a Jorge Gurría Lacroix, pp. 45–65. Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, Universidad Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Aguilera, Carmen, and Trejo, Jesús Galindo 1991 Registro de eclipses en códices del altipiano mexicano (1199–1531). In Eclipses en México, edited by Manrique, Leonardo, pp. 60–85. Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Anales de, Cuauhtitlan 1975 In Codices Chimalpopoca, translated by Velázquez, Primo Feliciano. Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F. 1980 Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Aveni, Anthony F. 1992 Astronomical Considerations in the Aztec Expression of History. Paper presented at the Mesoamerican Archive Conference, University of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Báez-Jorge, Félix 1983 La cosmovisión de los zoques de Chiapas. In Antropología e historia de los mixe-zoques y mayas, edited by Ochoa, Lorenzo and Lee, Thomas A. Jr., pp. 383–411. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Báez-Jorge, Félix 1988 Los oficios de las diosas. Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Baird, Ellen T. 1993 The Drawings of Sahagún's Primeros Memoriales: Structure and Style. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Baquedano, Elizabeth 1989 Aztec Earth Deities. In Polytheistic Systems, edited by Davies, Glenys, pp. 184–198. Cosmos, vol. 5, Emily Lyle, general editor. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Baquedano, Elizabeth 1990 The Mesoamerican Ballgame: Symbolic Aspects. In Contests, edited by Duff-Cooper, A., pp. 95–113. Cosmos, vol. 6, Emily Lyle, general editor. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Barlow, Roberto 1949 El códice Azcatítlan. Journal des Société des Américanistes 38: 102–120.Google Scholar
Benson, Elizabeth 1989 In Love and War: Hummingbird Lore. In Selected Papers from LAILA/ALILA's 1988 Symposium, edited by Preuss, Mary H., pp. 3–8. Labyrinthes, Culver City, CA.Google Scholar
Bierhorst, John 1992 History and Mythology of the Aztecs: The Codex Chimalpopoca. University of Arizona Press, Tuscon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth Hill 1983 The Codex Magliabechiano and the Lost Prototype of the Magliabechiano Group. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth Hill 1987 Templo Mayor Research, 1521–1978. In The Aztec Templo Mayor, edited by Boone, Elizabeth Hill, pp. 5–70. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Broda, Johanna 1980 La fiesta aztec del fuego nuevo y el culto de las pléyades. In La antropología americanista en la actualidad: Homenaje a Raphael Girard, vol. 2, pp. 283–304. Editores Mexicanos Unidos, Mexico.Google Scholar
Broda, Johanna 1982 Astronomy, Cosmovisión, and Ideology in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. In Ethnoastronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the American Tropics, edited by Aveni, Anthony F. and Urton, Gary, pp. 81–110. New York Academy of Sciences, New York.Google Scholar
Broda, Johanna 1987 The Provenience of the Offerings: Tribute and Cosmovisión. In The Aztec Templo Mayor, edited by Boone, Elizabeth Hill, pp. 211–256. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Broda, Johanna 1991 The Sacred Landscape of Aztec Calendar Festivals: Myth, Nature, and Society. In To Change Place: Aztec Ceremonial Landscapes, edited by Carrasco, Davíd, pp. 74–120. University Press of Colorado, Niwot, CO.Google Scholar
Broda, Johanna 1992 La función social de calendarios y astronomía en mesoamérica. Azteca mexica, edited by Alcina, J., León-Portilla, M., and Moctezuma, E. Matos, pp. 99–107. Quinto Centenario Edición, Madrid.Google Scholar
Broda, Johanna, Carrasco, Davíd, and Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos 1987 The Great Temple of Tenochtitlan: Center and Periphery in the Aztec World. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Campbell, R. Joe 1985 A Morphological Dictionary of Classical Nahuatl. Seminary of Hispanic Studies, Madison.Google Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1967 Los calendarios prehispánicos. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, Mexico.Google Scholar
Caso, Alfonso 1971 Calendric Systems of Central Mexico. In Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, pt. 1, edited by Ekholm, Gordon and Bernal, Ignacio, pp. 333–348. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, Robert Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Closs, Michael P. 1989 Cognitive Aspects of Ancient Maya Eclipse Theory. In New World Archaeoastronomy, selected Papers from the 2nd Oxford International Conference on Archaeoastronomy, edited by Aveni, A.F., pp. 389–415. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1975 Native Astronomy in Mesoamerica. In Archaeoastronomy in Pre-Columbian America, edited by Aveni, Anthony F., pp. 3–31. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Corona, Núñez José 1964–1967 Antigüedades de México: Basadas en la recopilación de Lord Kingsborough, vol. 3. Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, Mexico.Google Scholar
Durán, Fray Diego 1964 The Aztecs: The History of the Indies of New Spain. Translated with notes by Heyden, Doris and Horcasitas, Fernando. Orion Press, New York.Google Scholar
Durán, Fray Diego 1971 Book of the Gods and Rites and The Ancient Calendar. Translated and edited by Horcasitas, Fernando and Heyden, Doris. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Durán, Fray Diego 1994 The History of the Indies of New Spain. Translated, annotated, and introduced by Heyden, Doris. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Susan D. 1989 The Aztec Kings: the Construction of Rulership in Mexica History. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Susan D. 1991 Ballgames and Boundaries. In The Mesoamerican Ballgame, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L. and Wilcox, David R., pp. 317–346. University of Arizona Press, Tuscon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
González, Torres Yólotl 1968 El dios Huitzilopochtli en la peregrinación mexica. Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia 19: 175–190.Google Scholar
González, Torres Yólotl 1975 El culto a los astros entre los mexicas. SEP/SETENTAS 217, Mexico.Google Scholar
González, Torres Yólotl 1985 El sacrificio humano entre los mexicas. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico.Google Scholar
González, Torres Yólotl 1991 Diccionario de mitología y religión de mesoamérica. Ediciones Larousse, Madrid and Mexico.Google Scholar
González, Torres Yólotl 1995 Dioses, diosas, y andróginos e la mitología mexica. In Antropología simbólica, Marie Edile Marión, coordinator, pp. 45–52. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Graulich, Michel 1981 The Metaphor of the Day in Ancient Mexican Myth and Ritual. Current Anthropology 22: 45–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graulich, Michel 1990 Mitos y rituales del México anliguo. Colegio Universitario, Ediciones Istmo, Madrid.Google Scholar
Harvey, H.R., and Kelly, Isabel 1969 The Totonac. In Ethnology, pt. 2, edited by Vogt, Evon, pp. 638–681. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 8, Robert Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Historia de los mexicanos por sus pinturas 1973 Historia de los mexicanos por sus pinturas. In Teogonía e historia de los mexicanos, edited by Angel, M. Garibay K., pp. 23–78. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Historia de México 1973 Historia de México (Histoire du Mechique). In Teogonía e historia de los mexicanos, edited by Angel, M. Garibay K., pp. 91–116. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Hunt, Eva 1977 The Transformation of the Hummingbird: Cultural Roots of a Zinacantecan Mythical Poem. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Klein, Cecelia F. 1980 Who Was Tlaloc? Journal of Latin American Lore 6: 155–204.Google Scholar
Klein, Cecelia F. 1986 Masking Empire: The Material Effects of Masks in Aztec Mexico. Art History 9: 135–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, Cecelia F. 1988 Rethinking Cihuacoatl: Aztec Political Imagery of the Conquered Woman. In Smoke and Mist: Mesoamerican Studies in Memory of Thelma D. Sullivan, edited by Josserand, J. Kathryn and Dankin, Karin, pp. 237–278. BAR International Series 402. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Klein, Cecelia F. 1994 Fighting with Femininity: Gender and War in Aztec Mexico. In Gender Rhetorics: Postures of Dominance and Submission in History, edited by Trexler, Richard C., pp. 107–147. Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, State University of New York, Binghamton.Google Scholar
Krupp, E.C. 1982 The ‘Binding of the Years,’ The Pleiades, and the Nadir Sun. Archaeoastronomy V: 9–13.Google Scholar
Krupp, E.C. 1993 Second Thoughts About the World's End. Sky and Telescope 11:58–59.Google Scholar
Lebeuf, Arnold, and Iwaniszewski, Stanislaw 1994 The New Fire Ceremony as an Harmonical Base to the Mesoamerican Calendrical System and Astronomy. In Time and Astronomy at the Meeting of Two Worlds, edited by Iwaniszewski, Stanislaw, Lebeuf, Arnold, Wiercinski, Andrej, and Ziókowski, Mariusz S., pp. 181–206. Center for Latin American Studies, Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland.Google Scholar
León-Portilla, Miguel 1978 México-Tenochititlan: Su espacio y tiempos sagrados. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
León-Portilla, Miguel 1992 The Aztec Image of Self and Society: An Introduction to Nahua Culture. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
López, Luján Leonardo 1993 Las ofrendas del Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan. Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Lumholtz, Karl 1902 Unknown Mexico, vol. 1. Scribner'sand Sons, New York.Google Scholar
McCluskey, Stephen C. 1989 Lunar Astronomies in the Western Pueblos. In World Archaeoastronomy. Selected Papers from the 2nd Oxford International Conference on Archaeoastronomy, edited by Aveni, A.F., pp. 355–364. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Matos, Moctezuma Eduardo 1981 Una visita al Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Matos, Moctezuma Eduardo 1987 Symbolism of the Templo Mayor. In The Aztec Templo Mayor, edited by Boone, Elizabeth Hill, pp. 185–210. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Matos, Moctezuma Eduardo 1990 Trabajos arqueológicos en el centro de la ciudad de México. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Matos, Moctezuma Eduardo 1991 Las seis Coyolxauhqui: Variaciones sobre un mismo tema. Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 21: 15–30.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 1980 Star Gods and Astronomy of the Aztecs. In La antropología americanista en la actualidad: Homenaje a Raphael Girard, vol. I, pp. 289–303. Editores Mexicanos Unidos, Mexico.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 1988 Birth Images in Mixteca-Puebla Art. In The Role of Gender in Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture, edited by Miller, Virginia E., pp. 153–178. University Press of America, Lanham, MD.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 1989 A Seasonal Calendar with Venus Periods in Borgia 29–46. In The Imagination of Matter: Religion and Ecology in Mesoamerican Traditions, edited by Carrasco, Davíd, pp. 103–127. BAR International Series 515. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 1995a Gender and Roles of Lunar Deities in Postclassic Central Mexico and Their Correlations with the Maya Area. Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 25: 45–93.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 1995b Eclipse Imagery in Mexica Sculpture of Central Mexico. Vistas in Astronomy 39: 479–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 1996 Postclassic Maya Metaphors for Lunar Motion. In Eighth Palenque Round Table, edited by Macri, Martha and McHargue, J., pp. 379–391. The Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Milbrath, Susan 1998 Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars. University of Texas Press, in press.Google Scholar
Miller, Mary, and Taube, Karl 1993 The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. Thames and Hudson, New York and London.Google Scholar
Muñoz, Camargo Diego 1948 Historia de Tlaxcala. 6th ed.Mexico.Google Scholar
Muñoz, Camargo Diego 1984 Relaciones geográficas del sigio XVI: Tlaxcala. (Descripción de la ciudad y provincia de Tlaxcala ca. 1577). Notes by Rene Acuña. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B. 1971 Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. In Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, pt. 1, edited by Ekholm, Gordon F. and Bernal, Ignacio, pp. 395–446. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, Robert Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B. 1981 Archaeological Discoveries in the Temple Mayor Project Precinct of Mexico Tenochtitlan. Minutes of the University Seminar on Primitive and Pre-Columbian Art. Columbia University, Meeting no. 91. Mimeograph.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B. 1985 The New Tenochtitlan Templo Mayor Coyolxauhqui-Chantico Monument. In Indiana 10: 77–98.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B. 1987 Symposium on the Aztec Tempio Mayor: Discussion. In The Aztec Templo Mayor, edited by Boone, Elizabeth Hill, pp. 463–484. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B. 1988 The Provenience of the Codex Borbonicus. In Smoke and Mist: Mesoamerican Studies in Memory of Thelma D. Sullivan, edited by Josserand, J. Kathryn and Dankin, Karin, pp. 77–97. BAR International Series 402. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B., and Keber, Eloise Quiñones 1983 Art of Aztec Mexico: Treasures of Tenochtitlan. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Nicholson, H.B., and Keber, Eloise Quiñones 1994 Mixteca-Puebla: Discoveries and Research in Mesoamerican Art and Archaeology. Labyrinthes, Culver City, CA.Google Scholar
Nutini, Hugo G. 1988 Todos Santos in Rural Tlaxcala: A Syncretic, Expressive, and Symbolic Analysis of the Cult of the Dead. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paddock, John (editor) 1966 Ancient Oaxaca. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.Google Scholar
Pasztory, Esther 1983 Aztec Art. Harry N. Abrams, New York.Google Scholar
Peterson, Jeanette F. 1983 Sacrificial Earth: The Iconography and Function of Malinalli Grass in Aztec Culture. In Flora and Fauna Imagery in Precolumbian Cultures, edited by Hammond, Norman, pp. 113–148. Proceedings of 44th International Congress of Americanists. BAR International Series 171. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Quiñones, Keber Eloise 1994 Codex Telleriano-Remensis: Ritual, Divination, and History in a Pictorial Aztec Manuscript. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Roys, Ralph L. (translator and editor) 1967 The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1950–1882 Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. 12 vols. Translated by Anderson, Arthur J.O. and Dibble, Charles E.. School of America Research and University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. (2nd eds. of Book I [1981] and Book II [1970]).Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1969 Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España, with notes by Angel Maía Garibay K. 4 vols. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1974 Primeros memoriales de Fray Bernardino de Sahagún. Translation by Wigberto Jiménez Moreno. Colección Científica No. 16. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Sandstrom, Alan R., and Sandstrom, Pamela E. 1986 Traditional Papermaking and Paper Cult Figures of Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1904 Venus Period in the Picture Writings of the Borgian Codex Group. In Mexican and Central American Antiquities, Calendar Systems, and History, translated by Bowditch, Charles P., pp. 353–392. Bulletin No. 28. Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1960–1961 Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur Amerikanischen Sprachund Altertumskunde. 5 vols. Graz, Austria. Reprinted from the 1902–1903 edition, Berlin.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1963 Comentarios al Códice Borgia. 2 vols, and facsimile. Fondo de Cultural Económica, Mexico.Google Scholar
Seler, Eduard 1991–1993 Collected Works in Mesoamerican Linguistics and Archaeology. 4 vols. (vols. 1–3 of 1960–1961 edition.) Edited by Comparato, Frank E.. Labyrinthes, Culver City, CA.Google Scholar
Sisson, Edward B., and Lilly, T. Gerald 1994 A Codex Style Mural from Tehuacan Viejo, Puebla, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 5: 33–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, Joe D. 1984 Structural Evidence of a Luni-Solar Calendar in Ancient Mesoamerica. Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 17: 171–190.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl A. 1993 The Bilimek Pulque Vessel: Starlore, Calendrics, and Cosmology of Late Postclassic Central Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 4: 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tena, Rafael 1987 El calendario mexica y lo cronografía. Serie Historia. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Tezozómoc, Hernando Alvarado de 1975a Crónica mexicana. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Tezozómoc, Hernando Alvarado de 1975b Crónica Mexicáyotl. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1934 Sky Bearers, Colors, and Directions in Maya and Mexican Religion. Contributions to American Archaeology 10: 209–242. Publication No. 436. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1939 The Moon Goddess in Middle America. Contributions to American Anthropology and History No. 29. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1971 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: An Introduction. 3rd ed.University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Torquemada, Fray Juan de 1943 Monarquía indiana. 3 vols. 3rd ed. Editorial Chavez Hayhoe, Mexico.Google Scholar
Townsend, Richard 1992 The Aztecs. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Tozzer, Alfred M. 1957 Chicken Itza and Its Cenate of Sacrifice. Memoirs of the Pea-body Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 12. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Umberger, Emily G. 1981a Aztec Sculptures, Hieroglyphs, and History. Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Umberger, Emily G. 1981b The Structure of Aztec History. Archaeoastronomy IV: 10–18.Google Scholar
Umberger, Emily G. 1987 Events Commemorated by Date Plaques at the Templo Mayor: Further Thoughts on the Solar Metaphor. In The Aztec Templo Mayor, edited by Boone, Elizabeth Hill, pp. 411–450. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.Google Scholar