teocuitlaacuechcozcatl (Mdz67r)

teocuitlaacuechcozcatl (Mdz67r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic example shows a shell necklace. In the contextualizing photo, we see that it is worn--by a man, apparently a type of priest--over a red garment. The shells are white and turbinate. Seven shells are visible. The thread, string, or thong that holds them together is not visible.

Description, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis:

We provide this necklace here as a comparison for other necklaces in the collection. TLACHIA and the study of the Codex Mendoza by Berdan and Anawalt (1992) give the spelling "teocuitlaacuechcozcatl," whereas it can also be seen spelled with just one "a" in the middle. The second "a" may add a water element. The element "cuech" in Nahuatl can also refer to moisture. Other smaller turbinate shells in this collection include the cilin (see below). The fact that these cuechtli shells were made into a necklace suggests that they are not the large conch shells that were used for trumpets.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript:

Mendoza/Mendocino, Codex (Mdz)

Date of Manuscript:

c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Mexico City

Syntax:

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Gender (male)

Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment

Religion (Indigenous)

Shells

Cultural Content, Credit:

Stephanie Wood

Colors:

white/neutral

Shapes and Perspectives:

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

Keywords:

necklaces, collares, shells, caracoles

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

teocuitla(tl), gold, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/teocuitlatl
cuech(tli), a long, spiral-shaped shell, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cuechtli
cozca(tl), necklace, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/cozcatl

Additional Scholars' Interpretations:

"Gold Shell Necklace"

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el collar de caracoles de oro, o el "fleco de conchas en espiral"

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Stephanie Wood; y P. Henning, https://mna.inah.gob.mx/docs/anales_/352.pdf

Image Source:

Codex Mendoza, folio 67 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 144 of 188.

Image Source, Rights:

Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Historical Contextualizing Image: