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The Xiuhpohualli was a 365-day calendar used by the Aztecs and other pre-Columbian Nahua peoples in central Mexico. It was composed of eighteen 20-day months (also called veintenas) with a separate 5 day period at the end of the year.
The xiuhpohualli calendar, also known as the "vague year",citation needed had its antecedents in form and function in earlier Mesoamerican calendars, and the 365-day count has a long history of use throughout the region. In common with other Mesoamerican cultures the Aztecs also used a separate 260-day calendar (in Nahuatl: 'tonalpohualli'). Together, these calendars would coincide once every 52 years, the so-called "calendar round", which was initiated by a New Fire ceremony.
Aztec years were named for the last day of the 18th month according to the 260-day calendar the tonalpohualli. The first year of the Aztec calendar round was called 2 Acatl and the last 1 Tochtli. The solar calendar was connected to agricultural practices and held an important place in Aztec religion, with each month being associated with its own particular religious and agricultural festivals.
The 20-day months (veintenas) of the Aztec solar calendar were called (in sequence):
- Izcalli
- Atlcahualo or Xilomanaliztli
- Tlacaxipehualiztli
- Tozoztontli
- Hueytozoztli
- Toxcatl or Tepopochtli
- Etzalcualiztli
- Tecuilhuitontli
- Hueytecuilhuitl
- Tlaxochimaco or Miccailhuitontli
- Xocotlhuetzi or Hueymiccailhuitl
- Ochpaniztli
- Teotleco or Pachtontli
- Tepeilhiuitl or Hueypachtli
- Quecholli
- Panquetzaliztli
- Atemoztli
- Tititl
The five days inserted at the end of a year and which were considered unlucky:
- Nemontemi
The Maya civilization version of the xiuhpohualli is known as the haab', and the Maya equivalent of the tonalpohualli is the tzolk'in.
References
- Miller, Mary; and Karl Taube (1993). The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05068-6.
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- This page was last modified on 7 August 2008, at 11:21.
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