With her husband, she presided over the underworld. Anagoria/National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico, CC BY-SAĪztec mythology tells that Mictecacihuatl was sacrificed as a baby and magically grew to adulthood in the underworld, where she married. Mictecacihuatl’s underworld husband, Mictlantecuhtli, was also depicted in skeletal form. She was celebrated throughout the entire ninth month of the Aztec calendar, a 20-day month that corresponded roughly to late July and early August. In any case, by the time the Spanish conquistadors invaded in 1519, the Aztecs recognized a wide pantheon of gods, which included a goddess of death and the underworld named Mictecacihuatl. But the celebration that Mexicans now call Día de los Muertos almost certainly existed many centuries earlier, perhaps originating with the Toltec people of central Mexico. 1427, only about a century before the arrival of Spanish. The conquistadores largely characterized them as Aztecs because, at the time, they were united under the expansive Aztec empire.Īccording to colonial period records, the Aztec empire was formed in A.D. When the Spanish arrived in central Mexico 500 years ago, the region had millions of indigenous inhabitants. AP Photo/Marco Ugarte Mictecacihuatl, goddess of deathĭay of the Dead can be traced back to the native peoples of central and southern Mexico, the regions where I conduct my archaeological research. Mexico’s Day of the Dead begins with an overnight graveside vigil on Oct.
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