the ruins of xochicalco (pronounced as 'so-tshee-kal-kow') are at about 15 km from cuernavaca.
xochicalco used to be an important ceremonial center, with it's most important period between 650 and 850 a.d.. there was no actual town here.
the events of the sky, with its stars, the sun and the moon were of high importance in the prehispanic cultures. the aztecs, as well as the mayans developped very acurate calenders, even up to this day. the mayan calender for example predicted perfectly, to the exact day, a solar eclipse that ocurred in 1991. several hundert years after the disappering of these old cultures!
the position of the sun also had an importance on the architecture at that time. many piramids, in the prehispanic world were perfectly aligned with special solar positions. in xochicalco, the sun would fall trough perfactly aligned openings at specific days of the yaer into the bottam of a cave, allowing to study its movements. also it is said, that it is possible to see the 'aura' of a person standing in this ray of ligh.
i was also told from other people, that the light would be that strong, that it would show the bones of your extrimities, when placed into it. so it was used as some kind of x-rays as well.
the most famous building at this sight is the piramid of quetzalcoatl, of the fethered snake, who's reliefs can be seen all over it.
there are three ball game courts in xochimilco, with different slopeing walls each. the traditional 'pelota' (which actually meens 'ball') was played in these courts. in all of central america, in the prehispanic world, the game of 'pelota' was very important in meens of ceremonies, religion and diversion. the ball was played hitting it with the hip. the goal was to get it through a stone ring, situated at the top of the side walls of the court. normaly, the winners would be sacrificed after the game, which was a great honnor, as the players had liberated their souls and bought their way into 'haeven'... (here is a link, where you can inspect one of these stone rings.)
© nikolai packard, cuernavaca, 2.8.1999 mail an mich ;-)