Tecpanecatl (MH718r)

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name or title, Tecpanecatl ("Person Associated with the Tecpancalli, or Palace"), is attested here as a man's name. The components of the glyph have yet to be deciphered fully. They include what looks like a frontal view of two, vertical, wooden posts. At the top and bottom of the posts are round shapes, perhaps post caps or newells. Connecting them from behind is a wide triangular shape with the point down. The overall shape is something like the letter M. This may well be a cuauhtecpantli, a wooden construction that may have had a protective function, like a railing. The tepozcuauhtecpantli, which was a colonial innovation involving metal, was an iron grille or balcony railing. Thus, the cuauhtecpantli serves as a phonetic indicator for the Tecpan- start to this name or title.