acatl (CQ)

acatl (CQ)
Element from a Compound

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This element for the reed (acatl) stalk that is decorated like an arrow has been carved from the Ome Acatl date. The yellow reed shows some segmentation of the type that bamboo has. It also has two green leaves, one on the right and one on the left. Decorating the reed are what appear to be two feathers, one long and one down ball. Both are red.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The decorated reed that resembles an arrow is the reed that is typically found in dates. The acatl is both a day sign and a year sign in the Mesoamerican calendars, the tonalpohualli and xiuhpohualli.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Quetzalecatzin, Codex (CQ)
Date of Manuscript: 

covers ruling men and women of Tecamachalco through 1593

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

southern Puebla state

Semantic Categories: 
calendrics
year name
Syntax: 
noun(s)
Writing Features: 
simplex or element as logogram
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Feathers
Plants, Flora
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Randall Rodríguez and Stephanie Wood

Colors: 
gray
red
yellow or golden
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
symmetry
vertical, upright
Other Cultural Influences: 
Mixtec
Keywords: 

reeds, el carrizo, cañas, cane, plants, arrows, flechas, xiuhpohualli, año, turquesa, xihuitl

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

aca(tl), reed, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/acatl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

la caña, o la flecha

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Randall Rodríguez

Image Source: 

The Codex Quetzalecatzin, aka Mapa de Ecatepec-Huitziltepec, Codex Ehecatepec-Huitziltepec, or Charles Ratton Codex. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017590521/

Image Source, Rights: 

The Library of Congress, current custodian of this pictorial Mexican manuscript, hosts a digital version online. It is not copyright protected.

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

Ome Acatl (CQ)

acatl (Mdz23r)