The stone has long been an emblem of Mexican identity. Commissioned by the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II (r. 1502–1520), the nearly 12-foot-wide stone was completed during his reign, in about 1511.

The label on its pedestal reads “Piedra del Sol,” or “Stone of the Sun,” but another common name is “Aztec Calendar Stone.” ...

ARCHAEOLOGISTS were stunned by the discovery of an eight-tonne carved stone found by electricity workers below Mexico City, eventually leading to the location of the Great Temple of the Aztec Empire.

Mexican archeologists have dug past phone lines, electricity cables and a traffic light under chaotic city streets to excavate a large sculptured stone that was part of an Aztec sacrificial temple.