Descubrimiento de Chalchiutlicue - 12” H x 18”W, Pencil on Paper

The discovery of the Chalchiuhtlicue monolith in Mexico City is one of the most significant archaeological finds related to Aztec civilization. Chalchiuhtlicue, meaning "She Who Wears a Jade Skirt," was the Aztec goddess of water, rivers, lakes, and fertility. She was closely associated with Tlaloc, the rain god, and was believed to control terrestrial waters, childbirth, and purification rituals.

The positioning of the monolith suggests it may have been ritually buried during the final years of Tenochtitlán, possibly to protect it from Spanish destruction.

Today, the Chalchiuhtlicue monolith is housed in the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City, where it is one of the most important pieces on display. 

This drawing is part of a series that focuses on the local people who worked with the archaeologists while discovering sculptures of Mesoamerica. They were very young, and hard working, and at the end of the day were people like you and I. However, those who did the hard work and labor, sometimes were forgotten while the archaeologists (usually from Eruopre or North America) get remembered and receive the credit. With this drawing, we want to never forget those that were equally as important in the discoveries of the sculptures of Mesoamerica.