Mexican Gallery

Codex Borgia. Ritual and divinatory mesoamerican

Codex Borgia. Ritual and divinatory mesoamerican manuscript written in Nahuatl before of the conquest of Mexico. It is related with the aztec calendar Tonalpohualli. Copy od representation of the god Tezcatlipoca, Lord of Days, War, Heaven and Earth, antagonist of Quetzalcoatl. Aztec art. Litography. VATICAN CITY. Vatican Library. Proc: MEXICO. PUEBLA

© Iberfoto/Mary Evans

Cave of Crystals, Naica Mine, Mexico

^BCave of Crystals.^b Geologist in the Cave of Crystals (^ICueva de los Cristales^i) in Naica Mine, Chihuahua, Mexico. The crystals are the largest known in the world, and are formed of the selenite form of gypsum (calcium sulphate). They formed over millions of years in the mineral-rich geothermally heated water that filled the caves. The crystals were discovered after the water was pumped out of the mine. The Cave of Crystals is 290 metres deep, and was discovered in 2000. Above it, 120 metres deep, is the Cave of Swords (^ICueva^i ^Ide^i ^Ilas Espadas^i), which was discovered in 1912. The crystals in this cave are smaller as its water cooled more rapidly

© JAVIER TRUEBA/MSF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Page from the Dresden Codex, Maya manuscript

Page from the Dresden Codex, Maya manuscript. Chromolithograph of a page showing a section of a tonalamatl, a sacred season of 260 days. The god Quetalcoatl is depicted several times, including ferrying a woman (centre) and with an axe (bottom left). The original manuscript was probably produced in the first half of the 13th century, and contains tables predicting astronomical occurrences with great accuracy. It was sent to Europe after the Spanish conquest of Central America, and is today one of only four Mayan codices known to have survived

© Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage-Images