Similar statues and statuary fragments were discovered in the 20th century, leading scholars to debate the meaning of these works and their significance within the culture and ceremonies of the Aztec Empire.

The momentous discovery of these two statues, along with the 1791 excavation of the Tizoc Stone, initiated a new phase of research on the Templo Mayor as contemporary scholars attempted to interpret their dense symbolism and decipher their meanings.

[3]The first known scholar to study the statue after its excavation was Antonio de León y Gama, who identified the god depicted as "Teoyaomiqui", the deity of death and sacred war.

[6] The statue was identified as Coatlicue by Mexican archaeologist Alfredo Chavero in his book México á través de los siglos.

[7] In 1790, the statue had been moved to the National Autonomous University of Mexico to be preserved and studied, but it was soon buried on the orders of the clergy, because its presence resulted in worship, and they did not want to encourage adherence to Aztec religion, which the Spanish had spent centuries attempting to destroy.

As with the Coatlicue Statue, the bottom of Yolotlicue depicts Tlaltecuhtli and the year 12 Reed is inscribed between its shoulder blades.

If what is generally referred to as Coatlicue is actually one of the Tzitzimime, then Huitzilopochtli could have saved the human race by decapitating and dismembering them.

[1] Cecelia Klein argues that the Tzitzimime also have a positive role in Aztec myth, and that they are decapitated as a result of sacrificing themselves to put the sun in motion.