Coyolxauhqui under the street: the 1978 find in Mexico City
A B2 Spanish reader on the stone that electricity workers hit in the centre of Mexico City, and the Templo Mayor dig that reshaped a whole block.
La piedra que apareció en la esquina de Guatemala y Argentina
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In February 1978 workers from the electricity company were digging a trench at the corner of Guatemala and Argentina streets in the historic centre of Mexico City when they struck a huge carved circular stone: the goddess Coyolxauhqui, dismembered in her own myth. The find launched an excavation project directed by the archaeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, and stairways, walls from several periods and buried offerings from distant regions came to light around it. The pavement was lifted and several buildings above the temple were demolished, so the block never looked the same again.
En febrero de 1978, unos trabajadores de la compañía de luz abrían una zanja en la esquina de las calles Guatemala y Argentina. Nunca imaginaron aquellos hombres lo que estaban a punto de tocar: una enorme piedra circular cubierta de relieves.
La figura tallada era Coyolxauhqui, la diosa de la luna en la religión mexica. En el relato, ella encabeza el ataque contra su madre, y su hermano Huitzilopochtli la detiene en el cerro. Jamás baja viva Coyolxauhqui del cerro: sí llega a la cima, pero desde allí cae despedazada, y así aparece en la piedra, con los brazos y las piernas separados del cuerpo.
Apenas se conoció el hallazgo, se puso en marcha un proyecto de excavación bajo la dirección del arqueólogo Eduardo Matos Moctezuma. En ningún momento estuvo sola la piedra: alrededor fueron saliendo escalinatas, muros de varias épocas y ofrendas enterradas.
Entre las ofrendas aparecieron objetos llegados de muy lejos: caracoles de mar, corales, piezas de piedra verde. Nunca fue Tenochtitlan una ciudad aislada, y lo que sus sacerdotes enterraban en el templo lo demuestra.
Aquella piedra no había caído ahí por azar. Estaba al pie de la escalera que subía al santuario de Huitzilopochtli, es decir, en el mismo lugar que ocupa en el mito. No solo cuenta la piedra una historia, sino que también marca el punto del edificio donde esa historia se representaba.
Excavar en el centro de una capital cuesta caro y molesta a mucha gente. No solo se levantó el pavimento, sino que también se derribaron varios edificios que estaban encima del templo. Tampoco quedó igual el barrio: donde había casas y oficinas hoy hay un espacio abierto junto a la catedral.
Nunca antes había podido recorrerse a cielo abierto una parte tan grande del Templo Mayor: hasta entonces solo estaba a la vista la esquina que Manuel Gamio sacó a la luz entre 1913 y 1916 y que otras excavaciones fueron ampliando. Ahora se camina por pasarelas sobre los muros, con el tráfico a unos metros y la catedral al lado. No solo se conserva la piedra en el museo del sitio, sino que también se explica ahí el mito completo.
Nunca se da por terminada la excavación del centro histórico. Cualquier obra puede tocar un muro antiguo, y entonces vuelve a repetirse la escena de 1978: alguien deja la pala en el suelo y va a buscar un teléfono.
¿Nunca te has preguntado qué hay debajo de tu calle? ¿Qué harías tú en el lugar de aquellos trabajadores? ¿Y qué crees que debe hacer una ciudad en un caso así: excavar y quitar lo de arriba, o volver a tapar y seguir?
About this article
What you'll learn
Fronted negative adverbs with the subject after the verb: nunca, jamás, apenas, tampoco, en ningún momento and no solo... sino que también. Also the «se» passive and city vocabulary: la zanja, el hallazgo, la escalinata, la ofrenda, la pasarela.
In February 1978 workers from the electricity company were digging a trench at the corner of Guatemala and Argentina streets in the historic centre of Mexico City when they struck a huge carved circular stone: the goddess Coyolxauhqui, dismembered in her own myth. The find launched an excavation project directed by the archaeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, and stairways, walls from several periods and buried offerings from distant regions came to light around it. The pavement was lifted and several buildings above the temple were demolished, so the block never looked the same again.
After reading
Article learning block
Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.
Phrases for training
Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.
lo que estaban a punto de tocar
newwhat they were about to touch
The phrase places an action right on the edge of happening: «está a punto de llover» means it is about to rain. In the imperfect it says the event was close: «estaban a punto de tocar».
It is the simplest way to build tension in a narrative, and it needs no difficult verb form at all.
se puso en marcha un proyecto de excavación
newan excavation project was set in motion
Literally to put into motion. Spanish uses it for launching a project, a programme, a factory or a reform. With «se» the doer goes unnamed: «se puso en marcha un proyecto» is a pasiva refleja, and the verb agrees with its subject, as in «se pusieron en marcha varios proyectos».
It is standard news and document vocabulary, alongside «ponerse en contacto» (to get in touch) and «ponerse de acuerdo» (to reach an agreement).
a cielo abierto
newin the open air
A fixed phrase with no article: never «al cielo abierto». It means roofless, under the open sky, and applies to digs, quarries and outdoor cinemas alike.
It is very common in writing about cities and archaeology: «una mina a cielo abierto», «un museo a cielo abierto».
se da por terminada la excavación
newthe excavation is never considered finished
«Dar por + participle» means to treat something as being in that state: dar por terminado (consider it finished), dar por perdido (write it off), dar por hecho (take for granted). The participle agrees with what it refers to: «la excavación» takes «terminada».
It is the short formula for an official decision: a matter closes not because it ended but because somebody declared it ended.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
la zanja - trench
una zanja
they were digging a trench
A narrow, long ditch dug to lay pipes or cable. It goes above all with the verb «abrir»: «abrir una zanja» is the usual wording on building sites and in the press, though «hacer una zanja» is correct too.
The whole story starts with a trench for an electricity cable, and the word is on every street where work is going on.
el hallazgo - a find
el hallazgo
as soon as the find became known
A noun from «hallar» (to find), which is more formal than «encontrar». «Hallazgo» is specifically an unexpected or valuable find; a lost item handed in is an «objeto perdido».
It is the key word of news about archaeology, science and medicine: «un hallazgo arqueológico», «un hallazgo casual».
la escalinata - monumental steps
escalinatas
flights of monumental steps
«Escalinata» is the wide, usually ornamental stairway in front of a building or in its entrance hall; the ordinary staircase of a block of flats is «la escalera», a word that also means a ladder.
You need it as soon as you describe palaces, cathedrals or pyramids, and here it names the very steps at whose foot Coyolxauhqui lay.
la ofrenda - an offering
ofrendas enterradas
buried offerings
What is offered to gods or to the dead. In Mexico «la ofrenda» is also the altar families build at home for the Day of the Dead, with photographs, food and flowers.
One word opens both the archaeology of Tenochtitlan and one of the best known festivals of modern Mexico.
despedazado - torn to pieces
cae despedazada
she falls in pieces
Inside the word sits «pedazo» (a piece): despedazar is to tear something into pieces, and the prefix «des-» marks the separation of the parts. The participle agrees with the subject, hence «cae despedazada» of a goddess.
The same pattern gives dozens of words: desmontar (to dismantle), deshacer (to undo), desenterrar (to dig up).
la pasarela - walkway
pasarelas
people walk on raised walkways
A light narrow way raised above something: above ruins, above water, above a road. The same word names a catwalk at a fashion show: «desfilar por la pasarela».
A useful word for any description of an open-air site or of city infrastructure.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
«nunca» at the front: the subject follows the verb
Nunca imaginaron aquellos hombres lo que estaban a punto de tocar
never did those men imagine...
When a sentence opens with «nunca» or «jamás», the subject normally moves behind the verb: «Nunca imaginaron aquellos hombres...». The subject is not placed between the adverb and the verb.
The ordinary order «Aquellos hombres nunca imaginaron...» is equally correct and sounds more everyday. Fronting «nunca» raises the register, which is why essays, articles and speeches use it.
«no solo ..., sino que también ...»
No solo cuenta la piedra una historia, sino que también marca el punto
not only does the stone tell a story, it also marks the spot
After «no solo» the subject again follows the verb: «cuenta la piedra». In the second half the choice depends on what comes next: before a conjugated verb Spanish uses «sino que también», before a noun or an adjective «sino también».
This is the basic move of written argument: you add a second point and show the first was not the whole story. The Academy recommends writing «solo» without an accent.
«apenas» - as soon as, hardly
Apenas se conoció el hallazgo
as soon as the find became known
«Apenas» has two senses. At the head of a clause with a past verb it means as soon as: one event triggers the next immediately. Otherwise it means hardly, and it stands right before the verb, the adjective or the quantity: «apenas había luz», «apenas se ve», «apenas cinco personas».
Both senses are restrictive. When «apenas» opens the clause and modifies the verb, the subject follows the verb: «Apenas se conoció el hallazgo»; but when it modifies a quantity, that phrase can itself be the subject and stay in front: «Apenas cinco personas vinieron». The first sense can be replaced by «en cuanto».
«tampoco» - not ... either
Tampoco quedó igual el barrio
the neighbourhood did not stay the same either
«Tampoco» is the negative counterpart of «también». Placed before the verb it needs no «no», and the subject follows the verb: «Tampoco quedó igual el barrio». Move «tampoco» after the verb and «no» comes back: «El barrio no quedó igual tampoco».
English uses the same words in both orders, so learners easily forget that «no» is forbidden when «tampoco» already stands before the verb.
a negative phrase at the front of the sentence
En ningún momento estuvo sola la piedra
at no point was the stone alone
It is not only single words that can be fronted but whole negative phrases: «en ningún momento», «en ninguna parte», «de ninguna manera». The effect is the same: no «no» is needed, and the subject follows the verb.
These phrases are stronger than a plain «nunca», which is why official statements reach for them: «En ningún momento se ocultó la información».
the «se» passive
se derribaron varios edificios
several buildings were demolished
The pattern «se» + verb leaves the doer unnamed, and the verb agrees with the thing acted on: «se levantó el pavimento» (singular) and «se derribaron varios edificios» (plural).
Reports, laws and news use it whenever naming the doer is unimportant or unwelcome. The plural agreement is the part learners forget.
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