In 1790, when Viceroy Juan Vicente de Güemas Pacheco de Padilla, conde de Revilla Gigedo ordered the resurfacing of the Zócalo in Mexico City, the governmental plaza, he had little idea that his municipal project would lead to the greatest archaeological discoveries of eighteenth century Mexico, the statue of Coatlicue (feathered skirt) and the Great Aztec Sun Stone.

The key figure in these discoveries was Antonio de Leon y Gama, an astronomer born in Mexico City in 1735. Studying at the College de San Ildefonso, Leon y Gama read widely in contemporary European astronomy, eventually earning a position on the faculty at the new Schools of Mines based in part on his Descripcion Orthographica Universal del Eclipse del Sol del Dia 24 de Junio de 1778 (Mexico, 1778). Leon y Gama later published on the aurora borealis and on medical topics.

Leon y Gama's renown, however, rests with providing the first European accounts of Mexican archaeology. The Coatlicue was discovered in August 1790, followed on December 17 by the Sun Stone, an massive and elaborate sacrificial platform carved with a highly accurate calendar. Leon y Gama's description of the discovery of the "two stones", Descripcion Histórica y Cronológica de las dos Piedras (Mexico, 1791) emphasized the sophistication and high scientific and artistic achievements of the Aztecs, responding to and quickening the stirring of Mexican nationalism. Leon y Gama died in Mexico City on September 12, 1802.

William E. Hulings' translation of Leon y Gama's Descripcion Histórica y Cronológica de las dos Piedras (Mexico, 1791) reflects the intense early American interest in the archaeological marvels of Aztec Mexico. Made in 1818, the manuscript also includes ethnographic notes on the Aztecs, particularly on Aztec religion, and is divided into three sections with separate pagination: "An historical and chronological description of two stones found under ground, in the great square of the City of Mexico, in the years 1790" (84p.), "Notes to Antonio de Leon y Gama's Work" (19p.), and "Translated from the Diary of Mexico, for Augt. 5th 1806" (3p.).

The notes are, in effect, a series of footnotes on Leon y Gama's account, providing discussions of contemporary authorities (Torquemada, Clavigero, Boturini, Sahagun), historical records of Aztec civilization and religion, and of the calendar itself. Hulings ends this section with a query asking "May not the Mounds discovered in the western parts of our Country, which bear the appearance of regular fortifications, have been the works of some of the Nations since settled in Mexico constructed during the frequent stops made by them in the journeys from their Country Aztlan...?"

The last section of the manuscript, extracted from a Mexican newspaper, includes a translation from the works of Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci on the Aztec and Chichimeca history of Aztlan and on the ancient population of Mexico.

Hulings was a Philadelphia physician with connections to Louisiana.

Physical description

1 vol., 106p.

1 vol., 106p.

Provenance

Gift of the translator, William E. Hulings, May 1, 1818.

Preferred citation

Cite as: Antonio de Leon y Gama, An historical and chronological description of two stones found under ground, in the great square of the City of Mexico, in the year 1790, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recatalogued by rsc, 2004.

Other finding aids

The Leon y Gama manuscript is indexed and briefly described in the online Daythal Kendall Guide to Native American Collections at the American Philosophical Society (entries 109 and 2177).

Related material

The Printed Materials Department has a copy of: Leon y Gama, Antonio de, Descripcion Histórica y Cronológica de las dos Piedras que con Ocasion del Nuevo Empedrado que se está Formando en la Plaza Principal de México ... Año de 1790 ... (Mexico: Zúñiga y Ontiveros, 1791). Call no.: Pam. 44, no. 1 also Pam. 358, no. 2.

The APS has one other letter from Hulings, relating to his map of Louisiana (1807) in the APS Manuscript Communications.

Other manuscripts by Leon y Gama are located at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (his Varios Papeles, and Carta que sobre los Observaciones Critico-Apologeticas), and at the Huntington Library.

Early American History Note

This manuscript collection falls outside the geographic scope of the Early American guide (British North America and the United States before 1840). It may be of interest to scholars interested in global history, international relations, imperialism, or the U.S. in the world.

• Mexico -- Antiquities

• Boturini Benaducci, Lorenzo, 1702-1751
• Hulings, William E.
• Leon y Gama, Antonio de, 1735-1802

• Aztec calendar
• Aztlan
• Beyond Early America
• Mound builders