73 Leon y Gama advanced the opinion that the stone, supplemented by a
gnomon, served as a solar clock or dial, to mark the hours of the
days and the seasons, etc. He added that the stone may have served
further purposes than those he enumerated and hints that it may have
also recorded lunar periods. This distinguished scholar concludes by
acknowledging that the ancient Mexicans possessed enlightened
knowledge of the movements of the principal planets and methods of
observing them, in order to divide time for the purposes of civil
and religious government (Description de las dos Piedras. Mexico,
1852, p. 110).
The late Doctor Philip Valentini, in a learned discourse on the
Calendar-stone, read at New York in 1878, expressed his view that it
contained a complete and plastic representation of the division of
time employed in ancient Mexico.
The distinguished Mexican scholar, Señor Alfredo Chavero, has
published the most elaborate treatise which has been written on the
subject and discusses the views of Gama and Valentini with much
erudition. Referring the reader to his publications in the Annals of
the National Museum of Mexico I shall but mention his views that the
four symbols, contained in the quadruplicate central figure, record
four epochs of the native cosmogony, that the central head is an
image of the sun and that the monument itself is a votive tablet
which was erected to the Sun in historical time, two conclusions to
which I cannot subscribe. It is impossible to discuss fully the
valuable publications of Señores Troncoso and Chavero in these
cursive remarks, but I shall do so on another occasion. Meanwhile
there is one point upon which both of these authorities agree,
namely, in admitting the possible connection between the
civilization of Mexico and Peru and in recognizing that various
ancient people of America had the nahui-ollin in common. A passage
in Señor Chavero’s work claims moreover special mention, as it
contains his supposition that the sign nahui-ollin may have
symbolized not only the four movements of the sun, but also those of
the moon, which the writer seems to regard as the nocturnal or dark
sun. I am quite ready to agree with the above authorities on some of
the points mentioned, conflicting as their views appear to be at
first sight. Inasmuch as I regard the monument as the image of a
plan or theoretical scheme which colored and influenced all native
thought, I hail any recognition made by other students of its
all-pervading presence in the Calendar and in the cosmogony of the
ancient Mexicans. On the other hand I maintain a view which
materially differs from those of previous writers, namely, that the
entire plan was originally based on the primitive observation of
Polaris and in the conception of a stable centre: the seat of a
power extending over the Four Quarters and the Above and Below.
74 In the text, as published, Bernal Diaz states that this statue had a
face like that of a bear “un rostro, como de osso,” but goes on to
say that it was decorated according to the same mode as the other
“del otro.” I am inclined to think it more than probable that
instead of “de osso ” the text should also read “del otro,” as among
the many images of Tezcatlipoca that are extant, none show him
connected with the bear in any form or shape.
75 In Tullan we seem to find the Maya equivalent to the Mexican
Itzacual=enclosure, by which the Teotihuacan pyramids are popularly
designated, as may be verified by the discussion of the Maya word in
the preceding pages (_cf._ tulum, tulul, tuliz, tulacal), which
conveys the idea of something enclosed, entire, whole and universal
and will be reverted to. Cholol-lan seems to be connected with the
verb cholol-tia=to escape (like game from a snare or net) to fly, or
to spring away. According to this, Cholol-lan would mean “the place
of escape or flight” and it will be seen that this designation will
be found to agree with the native tradition concerning the purpose
of the pyramid, which will be cited presently. It is not impossible,
however, that Cholol-lan may be bilingual and also be a corrupt
rendering of the Maya _ho_ or _hool_=head, also capital. This
supposition receives a certain support from Padre Rios’ statement
that “the inhabitants of Cholula, in their sacred festivals,
performed a solemn dance around the pyramid chanting a song which
began with the words Tulanian Hulaez.” These, he states, “belonged
to none of the languages now spoken in Mexico” (Orozco y Berra _op.
cit._ p. 363). The name Tlachiuhaltepetl is translated by Orozcoy
Berra by “mountain made by hand,” _i. e._ artificial mountain or
pyramid; from tlachiuhaliztli, the act of accomplishing some work
forming or creating something. As the origin of primitive symbolism
is a question of such deep interest I shall mention here some
curious data in connection with the pyramid. The word Tlachiuhale
was a title or name applied to the “Creator or Former of living
creatures.” In order to express the sound of this word in the
picture-writings, it is obvious that a pyramid could have been
employed, since it graphically and phonetically conveyed the desired
sound tlachiual-tepetl. At the same time a complementary sign would
be necessary so as to obtain a symbol which would specially apply to
the Creator alone. The word tlachia=to look, see, watch, naturally
suggests itself, as a complement to the sound tlach; and to express,
in a cursive way, the action of seeing, an eye sufficed. We thus see
that an artificial mountain or pyramid and an eye formed a
hieroglyph which expressed the sound “Tlachiuale” and signified the
“Creator.” As the eye by itself was the sign for star, and the idea
of a central star, as frequently depicted in the nahui-ollin sign,
was an emblem of the creative and central power, it is evident that,
besides its literal meaning, _i. e._ an artificial or created
mountain, a “tlachiuhaltepetl” would have been regarded by the
initiated as the Mountain of the Creator, the sacred pyramid, which
was the image of central, dual and quadruple power.
76 The testimony of early Spanish missionaries established the fact
that in ancient Mexico a caste of master builders and masons
existed, whose name, Tulteca, identified them with the ancient
centre of civilization and integral state of Tullan. “Whenever the
natives were asked who had constructed certain edifices, passes and
roads, etc., they invariably answered the ‘tultecas,’ a Nahuatl word
in current use, which signified ‘the skilled artificers or workers
in stone, etc., the master-masons or builders.’ ”
77 The ancient native name of this volcano was Citlal-tepetl, literally
the Star Mountain, from which it may, perhaps, be inferred that,
from the plains, its high and sharp peak served as a means of
registering the movements of certain stars and planets.