The Aztec Calendar
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The Aztec Calendar
The Aztec Calendar was based on a Mesoamerican that counted both a 260 day religious calendar and a 365 day solar calendar. researcher Garulich found, by studying how far behind the Aztec calendar was from the seasons, since they don't take leap years into account, that the calendar began in 682 A.D.
In the Aztec calendar, each day was given both a number and one of twenty day signs, for example: One Snake, Two Death, Three Deer and so on.
The solar year, which was 365, was divided into 18 months of 20 days. This left five days outside of the calendar, which were considered unlucky days.
Due to the arrangement of the calendar, only four signs are taken as year signs. Each of these is assigned a number, similar to the date. The Aztec century was 52 years long, with 13 occurences of each symbol. It was believed that at the end of five centuries, a catastrophic event would end the world. To prevent this, sacrifices were made in the evening of the last day of the year to ensure the sun's rising the next day. 
Aztec Days
The names of the Aztec days are as follows: Snake - Coatl, Lizard - Cuetzpallin, House - Calli, Wind - Ehecatl, Crocodile - Cipactli, Flower - Xochitl, Rain - Quiahuitl, Flint - Tecpatl, Movement - Ollin, Vulture - Cozcacuauhtli, Eagle - Cuauhtle, Jaguar - Ocelotl, Cane - Acatl, Herb - Malinalli, Monkey - Ozomatli, Hairless Dog - Itzquintli, Water - Atl, Rabbit - Tochtli, Deer - Mazatl, Skull - Miquiztli
How to Read the Aztec Calendar
The number wheel goes over the day wheel. One starts with the number one and the symbol crocodile. The number wheel rotates clockwise, the day wheel counter clockwise.
Sources
Bricker, Victoria. "The Origin of the Maya Solar Calendar." Current Anthropology. Vol.23 No.1: 101-103
One Rabbit and Drought <http://www.mexicauprising.net/One_Rabbit_and_Drought.pdf>
The Aztecs/Mexicas <http://www.indians.org/welker/aztec.htm>
Klein, Cecelia F. "The Identity of the Central Deity on the Aztec Calendar Stone" <http://www.lib.ncsu.edu:2062/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=22&sid=57e41a1c-a1d6-4b6d-87cb-8234c86176c2%40SRCSM2>
Aveni, Anthony F. "Other Stars than Our" <http://www.lib.ncsu.edu:2062/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=115&sid=5210448b-26cb-4898-859b-67ec86640106%40sessionmgr102>
--Anauman 18:35, 31 March 2008 (EDT)