A ''cuauhxicalli'' or ''quauhxicalli'' (, meaning "eagle gourd bowl") was an altar-like stone vessel used by the

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

to hold human hearts extracted in sacrificial ceremonies. A cuauhxicalli would often be decorated with animal motifs, commonly eagles or jaguars. Another kind of cuauhxicalli is the

Chacmool A chacmool (also spelled 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. Th ...

-type, which is shaped as a reclining person holding a bowl on his belly.

Gallery

File:20041229-Ocelotl-Cuauhxicalli (Museo Nacional de Antropología) MQ.jpg, Jaguar-shaped cuauhxicalli in the National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico File:Mighty carved stone eagle.jpg, Cuauhxicalli in the shape of an eagle, from the

Templo Mayor The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...

File:Cuauhxicalli, National Anthropology Museum, Mexico City.webm, Video of a cuauhxicalli, National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico File:Cuauhxicalli image.jpg, Annotated image of a Cuauhxicalli sculpture

References

Religious objects Indigenous sculpture of the Americas Aztec artifacts Mesoamerican stone sculpture Articles containing video clips {{Mesoamerica-stub