MEXICO CITY.- To commemorate the finding in December 17th 1790 of the Sun Stone at the Main Square (Zocalo) of Mexico City, the most important Internet search engine, Google, dedicated its logo to the emblematic Mexica sculpture.

The monolith also known as Aztec Calendar weights more than 22 tons and was carved on olivine basalt. The 3.22 meters diameter stone was found during excavations made to level and tile up that section of Mexico City center.

Miguel Angel Alva, Marketing director of Google Mexico, commented that the election of the logo or doodle referring to the Sun Stone was made based on proposals sent every trimester to the United States referring to relevant events or commemorations for culture in every country of the world.

After its finding, the monolith was attached to one of the towers of the Cathedral. It was exhibited there from 1790 to 1885, when President Porfirio Diaz ordered it was moved to the National Museum at Moneda Street, to preside the Monolith Hall. It was in 1964 when it was moved to the recently opened National Museum of Anthropology (MNA), where it is exhibited at the Mexica Hall.

The image of the Aztec Calendar in the search engine logo appeared in the page www.google.com.mx, from where public could access the different websites of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The last is part of the agreement between the National Institute and Google Mexico signed to promote internationally Mexican cultural heritage though the Internet. It is also part of the 70th anniversary of the creation of INAH celebrations.

According to specialists, the Sun Stone was originally set in a horizontal position and served as recipient of the heart and blood of defeated warriors that were sacrificed as offering so the Sun could reappear each day, overcoming the feminine nightly powers represented by the Moon and stars.

There are no data regarding the exact date of its manufacture, but in the top there is a glyph that represents the year 13 Cane (1479), which corresponds to the Mexica date when the Fifth Sun was born in Teotihuacan, during Axayacatl ruling.

A high definition interactive screen has recently installed at MNA, which allows knowing details of the Mexica sculpture such as the 5 concentric circles and the iconography.

The Marketing director of Google Mexico recalled that the search engine logo has been dedicated to other relevant dates in Mexico, such as the Independence, Children’s Day and Day of the Dead.

The next icon related to our country will be uploaded in March 31st 2010, to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of the Literature Nobel Prize Octavio Paz. Other commemorations to be celebrated are the anniversaries of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.