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Mexica Cihuateotl

Mexica Cihuateotl (goddess)
AD 1325–1521
Probably Tenochtitlan, Mexico
Basalt
33 x 36 x 66
Purchase
15/5597

The Cihuateteo or Mocihuaquetzque were the spirits of women who died in childbirth. The Aztecs considered childbirth a form of battle, and its victims were honored as fallen warriors. The Cihuateteo are depicted with skeletal faces and with eagle claws for hands. This sculpture has the date 1-Eagle, one of the five days of the year when the Cihuateteo were thought to descend to the earth and cause particularly dangerous mischief.

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