For the Mexica, the bird of prey was closely related to war and sacrifice, while being considered a nahual of the Sun and, therefore, also of its tutelary god, Huitzilopochtli.
The relief was excavated at the foot of the Templo Mayor (the main temple of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in present-day Mexico City), in the central axis that crosses the ‘chapel’ of Huitzilopochtli and the monumental sculpture of the goddess Coyolxauhqui.
It reminds us that historically, many deities have been linked to the Sun by various civilizations around the globe. In Central and South America, they were given various names by the Inca, Maya and Aztecs. The three manifestations of the Sun recognized among the Incas were: Inti, Viracocha, Pachacama.
I believe that, just like the ancient Greeks and Romans, they discerned the difference between the physical Sun; the invisible Sun-behind-the-Sun; and the deity who personified the Sun as its representative on Earth.
It is interesting that so many significant archaeological discoveries have been made over the past 100 years, and I believe the coming one to two decades will reveal much more of our hidden ancient origins.