Oztomecatl (MH708v)

Oztomecatl (MH708v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name or ethnicity, Oztomecatl (perhaps, “Vanguard Merchant” or “One from Oztoman”) is attested here as pertaining to a man. The glyph shows a tall, vertical staff that is decorated with a flint knife among other small indiscernible items.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

This staff was likely carried by vanguard merchants, perhaps those who traveled with mule teams after colonization, for several terms beginning with ozto- (the root of the word for cave) have something to do with what were called arrieros (muleteers) and recuas (mule teams) in Spanish. Apparently the altepetl of Oztoman was famous for these merchants, and they were known by the staff they carried. Gradually, according to James Lockhart, the ethnic significance of the term faded away.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image:

Source Manuscript:

Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)

Date of Manuscript:

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Semantic Categories:

personal name

Syntax:

noun(s)

Writing Features:

simplex or element as logogram

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (male)

Insignia

Landscape Features

Markets, Commerce, Economy

Names (personal and/or theonym)

War or Conflict

Weapons, Shields, Armor

Cultural Content, Credit:

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors:

black

white/neutral

yellow or golden

Shapes and Perspectives:

vertical, upright

frontal view

Keywords:

mercaderes, venteros, bastones, pedernales, etnicidades, nombres de hombres

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

oztomecatl, people from Oztoman, or vanguard merchants, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/oztomecatl
ozto(tl), cave, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/oztotl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

Mercader de la Vanguardia

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Image Source:

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 708v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=495&st=image.

Image Source, Rights:

This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).

Historical Contextualizing Image: