ayauhcalli (Mdz64r)

The gloss explains that this is an "ayauhcalli," or fog-house. The gloss also describes it as a mezquita, which was the Spaniards' early term for a teocalli, religious house, drawing from their experience with the religious temples of the Moors in the Reconquest of Iberia. The term ayauhcalli combines ayauh(tli) (fog) with cal(li) (house or building).

The markings on the top of the building are somewhat reminiscent of mist, which is akin to rain quiyahuitl or quiahuitl. See below, right. Another explanation for the particular shape of these paired hash marks (what Dehouve calls the double-stroke sign) might have something to do with the "hua" of possession, perhaps providing a phonetic indicator for ayauhui. (See below, right, for other "hua" suggestions). The t-shaped entrance to the building, which usually has terracotta-colored wooden beams, here has turquoise beams. The choice of color certainly seems to relate to water, again, and therefore to preciosity and a religious significance.

Elena Mazzetto has studied the ahuacalli sanctuaries in detail, and shows how they relate to religious festivals, which have a calendrical connection (veintenas).