Tula
Atlantean figures on top of Pyramid. Carved from
basalt, these figures are nearly 15 feet tall. They are constructed in four sections in a
mortice-and-tenon system. These figures were buried under the pyramid at some time before
the arrival of the Aztecs. They represent warriors (or possibly Quetzalcoatl himself), and
carry a bundle of darts and an atlatl (spear thrower). Together with carved columns in
back of them, these sculptured figures served to support the roof of the temple. Similar
figures appear later in Toltec Chichen Itza in the Yucatan but the later sculptures lack
the grandeur and force of these.
-Pictures of Record, Inc.
