Cuauhxicalli
A cuauhxicalli (Nahuatl 'eagle gourd bowl', from cuauhtli 'eagle' and xicalli 'gourd vessel') is a stone bowl that held the hearts of sacrificial victims in Aztec Tenochtitlan, placed before temple platforms where priests raised the still-beating heart to the sun before casting it into the vessel. Carvers shaped many examples as crouching eagles or jaguars with the bowl hollowed from the back; a celebrated andesite eagle cuauhxicalli found in the Templo Mayor precinct in 1985 measures some 139 centimetres. Others carry a sun disk carved inside and the earth goddess Tlaltecuhtli on the base, le