Aztec artifacts

16th century Mexica sculpture

thumb|upright=1.4|Maya chacmool from Chichen Itza, excavated by Le Plongeon in 1875, now displayed at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City A chacmool (also spelled chac-mool or Chac Mool) is a form of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican sculpture depicting a reclining figure with its head facing 90 degrees from the front, supporting itself on its elbows and supporting a bowl or a disk upon its stomach. These figures possibly symbolised slain warriors carrying offerings to the gods; the bowl upon the chest was used to hold sacrificial offerings, including pulque, tamales, tortillas, tobacc

mosaic serpent at the British museum

A cuauhxicalli or quauhxicalli (, meaning "eagle gourd bowl") was an altar-like stone vessel used by the Aztec in sacrificial ceremonies, believed to be for holding human hearts. A cuauhxicalli would often be decorated with animal motifs, commonly eagles or jaguars. Another kind of cuauhxicalli is the Chacmool-type, which is shaped as a reclining person holding a bowl on his belly.

2.52 metre (8.3 ft) tall andesite statue by an unidentified Mexica artist

Aztec artifact with a disputed original use

ancient whistle

Aztec featherwork headdress

pre-Columbian Stone Monolith

carved Aztec disc monolith depicting goddess Coyolxāuhqui dismembered

A temalacatl was a gladiatorial platform believed to have been used by the different civilizations of Mesoamerica, consisting of a large stone disc with a handle in the center where the prisoner was tied for further gladiatorial combat. right|250px|Representation of gladiatorial combat on a temalacatl.Codex Zouche-Nuttall.

Coatepantli is a Nahuatl word meaning "wall of serpents". It comes from the words coatl meaning serpent and tepantli meaning wall. It is an architectural motif found in archeological sites in Mesoamerica.