Page:Mexican Archæology.djvu/213

Rh skulls of sacrificial victims. The other temples in the court included one to Tezcatlipoca, one in circular form to Quetzalcoatl, and one to the planet Venus (Tlauizcalpantecutli), whose image was painted on a pillar in the shrine. The Tlaltelolco temple was similar, though a little larger, and supported two shrines dedicated, the one to Uitzilopochtli and the other to Tezcatlipoca. Larger than either of these imposing buildings was the teocalli of Quetzalcoatl at Cholula. This still exists, though in sadly mutilated form; the length of its base was calculated by Humboldt as nearly 440 metres. For an example of an ordinary Mexican shrine, as exemplified in ruins, it is necessary to go outside what is strictly Aztec territory. Near Cuernavaca,in the Tlalhuica district, among rocky peaks towering above the valley, is the temple of Tepoztlan (Pl. XIV, 2), dedicated probably to one of the octli-gods (Tepoztecatl). 'This region formed one of the early Mexican conquests and the temple bears the name of the Mexican king Auitzotl and the date of his death. Seen from the east, the building appears to be a three-tiered pyramid, the upper tier in reality being the back of the shrine. The walls are of porous volcanic stone set in mortar, and the roof was similarly constructed. The shrine is a simple rectangular building with an inner chamber (of the type Fig. 76, 4; p-327), and the interior is ornamented with carvings. The front wall is pierced by three doorways, separated by quadrangular pillars, which are in reality sections of the wall. In front, on the lower terrace, is a quadrangular "altar," probably corresponding to the quauhxicalli at Mexico. Another, and somewhat similar temple, also apparently of Aztec origin, is found at Teayo, near Tuxpan in the Huaxtec country. This is a three-tiered pyramid, about forty feet high, faced with sandstone blocks over which a coat of stucco has been laid. At the top is a simple