acolli (Mdz21v)

The bone may be intended to draw attention to the shoulder area, given that acolli means shoulder. Gordon Whittaker calls "acol" a pseudo-logogram, for in place names it is not literally about a shoulder but provides the phonetics for "a" (water) and "col" (bend, or curve), referring to "the curve of the lakeshore." [See Whittaker, Deciphering Aztec Hieroglyphs, 2021, 180.] The bracelet in this glyph may be emblematic of the Acolhua people of Tetzcoco, unless it is how a historical figure or a divinity was adorned. The red and yellow lines at the top of the arm may indicate that what appears above them is the interior of the arm. This theory is based on the location of the yellow and red lines at the bottom of the tepetl, which might be an entrance to the underworld and the point where a natural spring could emerge. Support for this interpretation is found in the place name glyph for Ixicayan. Similarly, the interior of the water channel or canal (apantli), also has these yellow and red lines (between the sides and the water).