religion had become mixed up together, as they have been in other quarters of the globe, and even the astronomical signs of days and months had temples of their own.
Xochicalco means “In the House of Flowers.” The word “flower,”—xochitl,—is often a part of the names of Mexican places and people, such as the lake of Xochimilco—“In the Flower-plantation.” Tlilxochitl, literally “black flower,” is the Aztec name for vanilla, so that the name of that famous Mexican historian, Ixtlilxochitl, whose name sticks in the throats of readers of Prescott, means “Vanilla-face.”
Why the place was called “In the House of Flowers” is not clear. The usual explanation seems not unlikely, that it was because offerings of flowers and first-fruits were made upon its shrines.
The Toltecs, say the Mexican chroniclers, did not sacrifice human victims; and it was not until long after other tribes had taken possession of their deserted temples, that the Aztecs introduced the custom by sacrificing their prisoners of war. It seems odd, however, that one of the Toltec kings should have been called Topiltzin, which was the title of the chief priest among the Aztecs, whose duty it was to cut open the breasts of the human victims and tear out their hearts.