Saint Paul Public Schools
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Aztec Sun Stone
lgazteccalendar_4
The Aztec sun stone, (Nahuatl: Ollin Tonatiuh "Movement of the Sun") often mistakenly called the Aztec calendar stone, is a large monolithic sculpture that was excavated in Zócalo, Tenochtitlan's and Mexico City's main square.

Measuring about 12 feet in diameter, 4 feet in thickness and weighing 24 tons, the original basalt version is presently on display at the National Museum of Anthropology and History in Chapultepec Park outside of Mexico City in North America.

While it is called the Aztec Sun Stone, this sculpture did not originally come from Aztlan but was created by the Mexica people. And while it
aztec_calendar1_5
Other Sun Stone replica in MRC collection
is often called the Aztec Calendar, it primarily depicts the four great disasters which led to the migration of the Mexica to Tenochtitlan (modern day Mexico City).

It also contains pictographs depicting the way the Mexica measured time, and was primarily a religious artifact.


http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/ancientartifacts/
http://www.azteccalendar.com/azteccalendar.html  today’s date according to the Aztec calendar
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/theme/ancient05.htm
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Sun Stone replica in MRC collection

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1994/3/94.03.03.x.html
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1985/6/85.06.02.x.html 
http://www.brownpride.com/history/history.asp?a=aztecs/sunstonedetails