Crótalo con mazorcas

A sculpture representing a colossal rattlesnake tail (Crotalus) in which the Aztecs masterfully carved pointed scales in the back and imbricated in the ventral side, as well as the rattle crowning the tail of the ophidian. Six corncobs seem to come out of the skin which suggests the close relationship between this animal and the idea of agricultural abundance; it has been written that this scale arrangement evokes the surface of the corncob. The tail was originally painted of red and yellow and the rattle was blue. It was found in the ruins of what used to be the Moctecuhzoma II palace where it could have been an ornamental architectural piece. Arqlga. Bertina Olmedo Vera