Lecture on the Aztec Sunstone

Aztec Calendar Stone lecture flyer

Ian from the Mexicolore team gave a 1-hour illustrated introduction to the Aztec Calendar Stone (Sunstone) monolith in London on Tuesday November 21st. 2006 at Canning House.

The lecture was hosted by the British Mexican Society, and followed the Society's 2006 AGM.

The lecture began with simple historical facts - where and when the great Sunstone was found, in what position, and so on. But Ian emphasized from the start that precious little is actually known of the Sunstone's original construction and purpose, what colours originally graced its surface, even in what position the Aztecs first placed it...

Ian discussed questions such as: was the Sunstone just a calendar? A commemorative monument? A cosmic clock? An 'anniversary wheel'? Can it be 'read' like literature? The answer is, it's all these things, and more.

For us today a 'calendar' is not much more than a simple time chart - and not a particularly elegant one at that. The ancient Mexicans, however, were absolute masters at observing, recording and conceiving cycles of time, and their (several) calendar rounds correlated precisely between significant planetary intervals.

Whilst disagreement still shrouds the identity of the central deity on the Sunstone, the reference to the 4 previous World Eras that surround him - and to the fate of the 5th. and current Era that we live in - are clear and intriguing...

Some claim that the Sunstone contains, amongst complex calendar cycles based on the sun, moon and Venus, a pre-Columbian reference to the end of an 'era' in December 2012 – just 6 years away...

Ian's lecture is available to adult audiences of all kinds. Contact Mexicolore directly for details.

British Mexican Society website

Comments (1)

Samantha Clatworthy

1st Mar 2012

I believe that the sun stone might have been used similarly to a sort of sundial. In this short article about the sun stone I read the people are still not sure who the god is it the middle of the stone. When I look at this stone it looks to me that the god in the middle may be the god of death or maybe the face in the middle is not meant to be a god maybe it symbolizes an event in the future the the Aztecs believed would happen or the face could symbolize the ruler in that time. There are many different things that you could suggest that has nothing to do with the gods of the Aztecs all it takes I simple thinking of simple ideas.

Aztec Calendar Stone lecture flyer