Celestial Excavations

It's only a slight exaggeration to say that you can't trip over a stone in Mexico City without uncovering an Aztec artifact. The 2006 discovery of the Tlaltecuhtli is only the latest monolithic find, at a site that may yet reveal the tomb of Ahuizotl (8th Tlatoani of Mexico-Tenochtitlan 1486-1502).

Here is a list of just a few of the most recognized monoliths from the Valle de Anahuac (Mexico City and surrounding areas), with certain data as I could find them (location and year unearthed, dimensions, material, and Wikipedia or Flickr image links):

(sun) Tonatiuh / Sun Stone ("Aztec Calendar"): Mexico City Zócalo, 1790
24 tons, 11.7 ft. diameter, black basalt

(earth) Coatlicue: Mexico City Zócalo, 1790
[weight], 8.5 ft tall, [material]

(plants) Xochipilli: side of the volcano Popocatéptl near Tlalmanalco, Estado de México, mid-1800s
[weight], approx. 4 ft. x 2 ft., volcanic rock

(rain) Tlaloc: Coatlinchan, Estado de México, 1964 or earlier
125 tons, [height], [material]

(moon) Coyolxauhqui: Mexico City Zócalo, at the foot of what was then discovered to be the Templo Mayor, 1978
8 tons, 10.6 x 10.1 ft, volcanic rock

(earth) Tlaltecutli: Mexico City Zócalo, to one side of the Templo Mayor, 2006
12 tons, 13.7 x 11.9 ft, pink andesite

When the Sun Stone was unearthed in 1790, it was something of a second discovery; a Spanish priest had ordered it buried sometime in the mid-16th century. For many years into the 19th century, the Sun Stone was displayed on an outside wall of the Mexico City Cathedral! Scholars don't always agree on the Sun Stone's iconography - some think the central image is the face of Tlaltecutli, not Tonatiuh. Some believe the twin fire serpents (xiuhcoatl, a kind of divine weapon) forming the outermost circle are the gods Quetzalcóatl and Ehécatl, others believe they are Xiuhtecutli and Tonatiuh.

In any case what strikes me is the inversion implied by excavations into the earth to find representations of the moon, the sun, and other phemonena of the sky: it's all cosmic dust in the wind.