The cave and its reflections: tezcacuitlapilli of the Pyramid of the Sun

Abstract

For more than thirty-five years, since its accidental discovery in 1971, the mirrors found in the cave under the Sun Pyramid [at Teotihuacan] were cited in extremely occasional sources in the literature mentioning their existence. The cave and its contents were surrounded by an aura of mystery, while their whereabouts continued to be an absolute enigma. Another series of equally fortuitous circumstances surrounded their rediscovery. The analysis and compilation of information dealing with research on these specific materials became the focus of my undergraduate thesis (“The Tezcacuitlapilli from the Sun Pyramid”) at the enah in December 2009. This article is based on some of the ideas and contents of this thesis, but restructured with a new series of proposals. Specific attention focuses on the mirror bearing bas-relief designs referred to as the “Xi-glyph monster,” whose characteristics and features make it unique among known mirrors. The motif on this slate disk often and surprisingly appears in painting and relief sculpture at Teotihuacan. These and other qualities make it possible to understand its conditions and to offer a new series of associations of social significance connecting the mirrors in the collection and the cave under the Sun Pyramid