Question for June 2011

(Professor Aguilar-Moreno kindly sent us a longer, more academic answer to this question, which we’ve condensed; but it’s still pretty complicated...!)

The Huehuetl of Malinalco

In the town of Malinalco resides a wooden Mexica tlalpanhuehuetl or war drum which was still used in some ceremonies until 1894, when it was transferred to its present location in the Regional Museum of the City of Toluca (Pic 1).
This huehuetl (vertical drum) contains the date Nahui-Ollin (4-Movement). The Ollin symbol was used to represent the movement of the Sun and the dynamic life of the world. From the word ollin derives yollotl (heart) and yoliliztli (life). Inside this particular ollin symbol is a ray emanating from a solar eye and a chalchihuitl (precious stone). The Sun was considered to be the “Shining One”, the “Precious Child”, the “Jade” and “Xiuhpiltontli” (Turquoise Child). The date Nahui-Ollin alludes to Ollin-Tonatiuh, the Sun of Movement, the present world that will be destroyed by earthquakes, and to the festival of Nahui-Ollin, in which the messenger of the Sun was sacrificed.

Pic 1: The famous huehuetl of Malinalco

All the warriors depicted on the Huehuetl have in one of their eyes the sign atl (water), which indicates that they are crying while they sing (Pic 3). This sign reveals the duality of feelings before the sacrifice. One of the jaguar warriors has behind a paw the sign atl combined with an aztamecatl (rope), indicating that he is a uauantin (captive striped in red) who will be sacrificed on the temalacatl stone. The cuauhtli warriors have obsidian knifes (tecpatl) hanging among their feathers, symbols of human sacrifice.

A band divides the two parts of the Huehuetl and portrays shields (chimaltin) with bundles of cotton and arrows (tlacochtli), sacrificial flags (pamitl) and a continuous stream of the glyph Atl-Tlachinolli. All of these are metaphors of war and sacrifice.

Pic 3: Detail of the jaguar warrior crying

On the center of the Huehuetl, Cuauhtlehuanitl’s face is emerging from the beak of the eagle and he has a turquoise jewel (yacaxihuitl) in his nose. Under his chin appears the sign cuicatl, that indicates that the deity ascends singing. The feathers of the eagle are stylized in a way that resembles the precious feathers of the quetzal (Pic 5).

Cuauhtlehuanitl is accompanied by the xiuhcoatl (fire snakes), who carry him during his daily cycle. They are also the embodiments of the solar rays. The heads of the xiuhcoatl featuring open mouth with fangs, solar eye and a horn can be seen. One of them has a realistic shape, while the other is portrayed with more abstraction, but shows the same characteristic elements.

The quality of the Aztec sculpture and carving applied to this Huehuetl is so precise and refined that it is comparable to the amazing and powerful expressive art of the codices.

Pic 5: The eagle warrior ascending to the Sun

A teponaztli from Malinalco is in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City (Pic 7). After the Spanish conquest, the missionaries prohibited traditional indigenous ritual practices and they often destroyed artifacts belonging to those rituals, so it is fortunate that this teponaztli survives.

The animal carved on this horizontal drum is either a crouching coyote or a type of jaguar with its tail next to its left side. It could represent the nahualli (soul or double) of a coyote or jaguar warrior; however, the curls on the head of the animal have led some scholars to identify it as an ahuitzotl, or a “water-thorn beast”. Amazingly, this horizontal drum still has the original canine teeth and molars placed inside the mouth to make the animal look more realistic and ferocious.

This teponaztli points to the military and sacrificial nature of the rituals performed at Malinalco.

Pic 7: Teponaztli with feline features, National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City