Xochicalco Archaeological Zone
Plaza of the Stela of the Two Glyphs
An open plaza where people watched the Sun rise at the equinoxes and solstices.
Location: Stela Plaza and the Southern Complex, Xochicalco Archaeological Zone.
Imagine this plaza at dawn, with people standing and looking east. That is what the INAH suggests: the plaza was used to observe the sunrise at the equinoxes and at the solstices.
It is a large public space, bounded on three sides. To the west is Base D. To the east, Base C. And to the north rises the Great Pyramid, which we will talk about soon. According to the INAH, this plaza is part of the city’s market complex.
That is why it is called the Plaza of the Stela of the Two Glyphs. A stela is a tall stone with reliefs. In this case it bore two glyphs, that is, two writing signs. One is a year and the other, a day. It reads as year ten reed, day nine reptile eye.
What you see here is a replica. The original stela was one of four found at the site, according to the INAH guide. The site director, Medina Romero, links that date to the pyramid: he proposes that the year ten and the day nine reptile eye correspond to its inauguration. It is a proposal, not a settled fact.
The date also appears in the city’s writing. The specialists Christophe Helmke and Jesper Nielsen point out a nine reed on the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpents, and they link it to a New Fire ceremony. There is still much to decipher in this writing.
One more detail: Medina mentions that this plaza has good acoustics. If you speak out loud, you will notice how the sound fills the space. Imagine an important announcement made here, before the assembled city.
Before you go, get your bearings in relation to the Sun. Look toward where it rises. A place like this lets you live the calendar with your body: waiting, watching, and knowing what day it is.
Andrews and Glascock add another piece of information: many projectile points turned up in this plaza, and they propose that armed warriors were gathered here for military activities. The plaza brings together things that in our lives are kept apart: market, ceremony, calendar, and weapons. In Xochicalco, everything shared the same ground.
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