Papalotla (TK204r)

This painted compound Nahuatl hieroglyph shows the district of Papalotla (“Place of Many Butterflies”), a part of the altepetl of Tepetlaoztoc (spelled Tepetlaoxtoc today), near modern Tetzcoco (spelled Texcoco today). It shows a hill (tepetl), serving as a silent locative (-tla, where there is abundance) and an indicator that this is a settlement. The hill is a bell shape that is painted blue. It has a horizontal red stripe at the bottom, which would be the site where a natural spring might emerge. Toward the top of this blue hill is a yellow butterfly with wings spread open in a bird’s eye view. Each of the four wing parts have a black dot in the middle. The butterfly’s body has two parts, the larger part with a long black mark. Also visible is a head that comes to a point at the end toward the body. Two eyes are clearly visible on the head, showing in a frontal view.