by Sharmal Kelambi

Created on: December 04, 2008   Last Updated: December 16, 2008

Aztec Calendar can well be said to be the heart and soul of the Aztec civilization. It was consisted of two separate calendars that existed independent of one another, but still was closely linked over periods of time. The calendar was found actually in a stone carving which weighted almost 25 tons. It had a diameter of around 12 feet and a thickness of about 3 feet. This huge stone plate found from the Mexican City-named Cuauhxicalli or the Eagle Bowl by the Aztecs-but now called mainly the Aztec Calendar or the Sun Stone around the world.

HISTORY BEHIND THE AZTEC CALENDAR

The physical evidence to such a calendar was first found on 17th December 1760, buried in the town square of the Mexican city. The Sun Stone found in the Mexican City was not an isolated finding. It truly captured the attention and unraveled the mysteries of the Aztec calendar, but the calendars of the same nature were found throughout Mexico, which was once the heartland of the great Aztec empire. The stone plate or the Sun Stone was first embedded in the wall of the Western tower of the Metropolitan Cathedral until 1885. Then it was transferred to the national Museum of Archaeology and History by order of the then President General Porfirio Diaz. Even now the calendar is on display at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico City.

TWO CALENDARS

Aztecs, like most of the other civilizations of the Mesoamerican region, was quite intelligent when it came to measuring time. Though may not be as good as their Mayan counterparts, Aztecs too used a 365 day a year calendar. This calendar was named Xiuhpohualli' or the year count. It was again divided into 18 parts, each consisting of 20 days. If you know your mathematics you'll find (18 * 20 = 360) that it's actually five days short of the 365 day year. Smart Aztecs called these five days as days of nothing' and used them to hold festivals. However these 20 day periods had nothing to do with the moon and were far different from lunar months.

Then there was the other calendar named Tonalpohualli' or the day count. This was mainly used by the priests to select auspicious days. It was consisted of 260 days and these 260 days were divided into 13 periods each consisting of 20 days. However this division was different from the year calendar and was used separately. However once every 52 Aztec years, the two calendars overlapped. This was considered to mark a beginning of a new era and was celebrated throughout the empire. The festivals lasted for 12

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