Cuetzpaltepetonco (CQ)

Cuetzpaltepetonco (CQ)
Compound Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This compound glyph for the place name Cuetzpaltepetonco ("On Little Lizard Hill") has three notable elements. One is a lizard (cuetzpalin) painted turquoise blue-green, shown in profile, facing to the viewer's left. Below the lizard there is a short, three-tiered pyramid (possibly a tetelli or a tzacualli). This construction does not enter into the place name in a phonetic way, so it is probably a semantic indicator. At the bottom of the compound is a green, bell-shaped hill or mountain (tepetl). There is a short, horizontal bar at the base of the hill or mountain. The diminutive (-ton-) and the locative (-co) are not shown visually, but perhaps the landscape provides a semantic locative.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The cuetzpalin is a calendrical day sign as well as an animal that appears in the landscape. It may be that the hill has a stepped pyramid on top.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

cuetzpaltepetōco

Gloss Normalization: 

Cuetzpaltepetonco

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Date of Manuscript: 

covers ruling men and women of Tecamachalco through 1593

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

southern Puebla state

Semantic Categories: 
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Parts (compounds or simplex + notation): 
Reading Order (Compounds or Simplex + Notation): 
Other Cultural Influences: 
Keywords: 

places, lugares, lizards, lagartos, iguanas,

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Additional Scholars' Interpretations: 

P[ueblo] Cuetzpaltepetoco “Little Hill of the Lizard.” Matthew T. McDavitt, “Placenames in the Codex Quetzalecatzin,” unpublished essay shared 2-21-2018.

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el lagarto en la cima del cerro

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Ofelia Cruz Morales

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: