Aztec New Year

Aztec New Year ( Spanish: Año Nuevo Mexicano or Año Nuevo Azteca ; ast. Yancuic Xīhuitl ) - New Year's celebration in accordance with the Aztec calendar . The date on which this holiday falls in the Gregorian calendar depends on the type of calendar used, but it is generally accepted that it is celebrated at dawn on March 12 ^[1] . The date is celebrated by the Nahua people, who live in some areas of present-day Mexico . To celebrate, the ocote tree (one of the varieties of pine) is used, on which candles are lit on New Year's Eve, in addition to this, fireworks are launched, drums and songs are sung. Some of the most important holiday events take place in Wauchinango ^[2] , Naupan , Mexico City , Zongolika and Hikotepek .

A later and more recognized version was proposed by Rafael Tan, a professor at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), based on the teachings of Duran, Sahagun and Alfonso Caso ( NAU ) ^[3] . His calculations confirm that the first day of the Mexican year was February 13 , which corresponds to the old Julian calendar or February 23 in the current Gregorian calendar. Using these calculations, he will check the date of birth of Witsilopochtli , the end of the year and the cycle “End of Years”, the New Fire Ceremonies and the day sign “1 Techpatl” of the year “2 Akatl” ^[4] , corresponding to the date February 22 .

This 365-day year was correlated with the solar year and divided into 18 months of 20 days each, as well as 5 additional days at the end of the year. In addition, there are several manuscripts that confirm the presence of a leap year ^{[5] [6]} .