Chacmool

A Chacmool is a sculpture of a reclining figure holding a receptacle that was probably for offerings. This chacmool was found at the summit of the Stage II Templo Mayor, at the entrance to the Tlaloc shrine. Its location mirrors that of the sacrificial stone which is found in front of the Temple of Huitzilopochtli, also at the summit. It now resides in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

Image Credit: Carrasco David, and Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo. Moctezuma's Mexico: Visions of the Aztec World. University Press of Colorado, Niwot, 1992. Page 104.

Height: 30 inches; Length: 46 inches.

It is situated so that it is facing outward from the shrine, thus looking out towards the people approaching from the stairway. Edward Matos Moctezuma has written about the significance of the sculpture:

The fact that the chacmool has been placed at the entrance in this way may corroborate one interpretation of the figure, namely that he represents a divine messenger, an intermediary bearing sacrifices and offerings between the priest and the gods. 1

Again, according to Matos Moctezuma "...These sculptures are typical of the Toltec culture but are also found in the Maya area, in the Postclassic period, and are dotted throughout the center, north, and west of Tenochtitlan." 2

Artistic license was taken in placing the artifact that was found in the Stage II excavation into the corresponding place in this Stage VII representation,