Note 4 — Chapter IV · THE CREATIVE DEITIES

(1) That they were among the oldest of the Mexican divinities. Tonacatecutli is called, among other names, “Lord of the Steppe,”4 which does not necessarily indicate that he was a deity of the Chichimec or hunting tribes, who from generation to generation raided the Mexican valley, but may apply to his stellar or heavenly significance. Reference is also made in the Anales de Quauhtitlan to the circumstance that he and his female counterpart were gods of the ancient Toltecs, and that their cult was founded by Quetzalcoatl, the typical Toltec priest-king.