Cabeza de Serpiente Mexica

A basalt serpent head rests near the corner of Argentina and Guatemala streets. Its tongue protrudes from jaws framed by rounded fangs, carved with the precision of a master Mexica stonemason. This sculpture once formed part of a massive platform surrounding the Templo Mayor, the spiritual center of Tenochtitlan. When Spanish soldiers demolished the temple in the sixteenth century, they repurposed its stones for colonial construction. This particular serpent head stayed buried beneath the city pavement until discovery during excavations in nineteen eighty-one.