Xonecuilli - Revision history

ASEtech at 08:01, 22 June 2026

2026-06-22T08:01:07Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:01, 22 June 2026
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	Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}		Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
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	Xonecuilli refers to Ursa Minor.		[[File:Xonecuilli_crop.png\|thumb\|490x490px\|Xonecuilli CC-BY Enrique Gómez Candelario]]
			[[File:Nanahuatzin.png\|thumb\|CC-BY Enrique Gómez Candelario]]
			[[File:Xonecuilli_Glifo.png\|thumb\|CC-BY Enrique Gómez Candelario]]
			Xonecuilli refers to Ursa Minor.

	==Etymology and History==		==Etymology and History==

ASEtech at 07:36, 22 June 2026

2026-06-22T07:36:55Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:36, 22 June 2026
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	==Etymology and History==		==Etymology and History==

			For ancient aztecs, the knowledge of the night skies and stars movement had great importance for their calendars and the measurement of both agricultural and sacred cycles. However, great part of this knowledge was lost as consequence of the Spanish conquest which occurred on continental America in the 16th century.

			The elements of the Aztec society such as culture, economy and science is preserved in the ''tlacuilos'', word that comes from the ancient Nahuatl word ''tlacuiloa'', which means ''writing with drawings''. These Tlacuilos where stored in the ''amoxcalli'', meaning amoxtli: books and calli: house. Later their became known as ''codices''; a word that came from the Latin word Codex which means written book.

			After the Spanish conquest many of the pre-hispanic Codexes where destroyed, their main feature is that their where drawn in many different materials such as deer skin, ''amate'' paper or cotton fabric and they had no text only draws or ''glifos''. However the collection of Mesoamerican customs continued prior to the Spanish conquest thanks to the work of some native indians and some Spanish priests, this codexes are known as Colonial Codexes and there is a change of the way of drawing because of the new techniques of drawing and the new materials imported from Europe, also because of the incorporation of descriptive text both in Spanish and Nahuatl.

			Sadly, the Aztec astronomical knowledge in the remaining codexes is really small. The next image is one of the few that names some constellations and astronomical phenomena identified by the Aztec, it belong to the ''Primeros Memoriales'' (first memorials), which is a colonial manuscript of the 16th century written by Fray Bernardino de Sahagun.

	The Ursa Minor constellation is identified as Xonecuilli which means twisted foot, and is related to Nanahuatzin, this character is represented with twisted feet, filled with boils and sores, this sick and poor God sacrificed himself to become ''Tonatiuh'' the Sun god. Apparently, this constellation can also be associated with the Southern Cross and its surrounding stars as is referred by ''Tezozomoc''. For its part, Sahagun speaks of his resemblance to bread made in the form of letter S and called by the Aztecs ''xonecuilli''.<ref>Herbert J. Spinden (1916). The Question of the Zodiac in America. New Series, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1916), pp. 53-80. doi: [https://www.jstor.org/stable/660290?origin=JSTOR-pdf&seq=1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/660290]</ref><ref>LOS CÓDICES DE MÉXICO [https://iconio.com/ABCD/F/INDEX.PDF pdf]</ref><ref>[https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B3dices_coloniales_de_M%C3%A9xico Códices coloniales de México]</ref>		The Ursa Minor constellation is identified as Xonecuilli which means twisted foot, and is related to Nanahuatzin, this character is represented with twisted feet, filled with boils and sores, this sick and poor God sacrificed himself to become ''Tonatiuh'' the Sun god. Apparently, this constellation can also be associated with the Southern Cross and its surrounding stars as is referred by ''Tezozomoc''. For its part, Sahagun speaks of his resemblance to bread made in the form of letter S and called by the Aztecs ''xonecuilli''.<ref>Herbert J. Spinden (1916). The Question of the Zodiac in America. New Series, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1916), pp. 53-80. doi: [https://www.jstor.org/stable/660290?origin=JSTOR-pdf&seq=1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/660290]</ref><ref>LOS CÓDICES DE MÉXICO [https://iconio.com/ABCD/F/INDEX.PDF pdf]</ref><ref>[https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B3dices_coloniales_de_M%C3%A9xico Códices coloniales de México]</ref>

ASEtech: Created page with "Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}} ---- Xonecuilli refers to Ursa Minor. ==Etymology and History== The Ursa Minor constellation is identified as Xonecuilli which means twisted foot, and is related to Nanahuatzin, this character is represented with twisted feet, filled with boils and sores, this sick and poor God sacrificed himself to become ''Tonatiuh'' the Sun god. Apparently, this constellation can also be associated with the Southern Cross and its surrounding stars as is refe..."

2026-06-22T07:31:14Z

Created page with "Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}} ---- Xonecuilli refers to Ursa Minor. ==Etymology and History== The Ursa Minor constellation is identified as Xonecuilli which means twisted foot, and is related to Nanahuatzin, this character is represented with twisted feet, filled with boils and sores, this sick and poor God sacrificed himself to become ''Tonatiuh'' the Sun god. Apparently, this constellation can also be associated with the Southern Cross and its surrounding stars as is refe..."

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Authors: {{PAGEAUTHORS}}
----
Xonecuilli refers to Ursa Minor.

==Etymology and History==

The Ursa Minor constellation is identified as Xonecuilli which means twisted foot, and is related to Nanahuatzin, this character is represented with twisted feet, filled with boils and sores, this sick and poor God sacrificed himself to become ''Tonatiuh'' the Sun god. Apparently, this constellation can also be associated with the Southern Cross and its surrounding stars as is referred by ''Tezozomoc''. For its part, Sahagun speaks of his resemblance to bread made in the form of letter S and called by the Aztecs ''xonecuilli''.<ref>Herbert J. Spinden (1916). The Question of the Zodiac in America. New Series, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1916), pp. 53-80. doi: [https://www.jstor.org/stable/660290?origin=JSTOR-pdf&seq=1 https://www.jstor.org/stable/660290]</ref><ref>LOS CÓDICES DE MÉXICO [https://iconio.com/ABCD/F/INDEX.PDF pdf]</ref><ref>[https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B3dices_coloniales_de_M%C3%A9xico Códices coloniales de México]</ref>

==Mythology==

==IAU Working Group on Star Names==

==Weblinks==
* [https://www.montero.org.mx/constelaciones|Constelaciones Prehispánicas]
*[https://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/aztec_culture.html|Aztec Mythology]
*[https://www.famsi.org/spanish/mayawriting/codices/paris.html|El Códice París]
*[https://www.traduccionliteraria.org/1611/esc/america/sahagun.htm REAL CÉDULA PROHIBIENDO LA ''HISTORIA GENERAL DE LAS COSAS DE NUEVA ESPAÑA'' DE FRAY BERNARDINO DE SAHAGÚN]

==Reference==
*[[References|References (general)]]

[[Category:Asterism]][[Category:Constellation]][[Category:UMi]] [[Category:Aztec]] [[Category:Central American]] [[Category:American]]<nowiki> </nowiki>