tetzacuilli (HJ276:79:pt2:61r)

tetzacuilli (HJ276:79:pt2:61r)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description:

This iconographic image (or possibly simplex glyph) illustrates a corral (tetzacuilli), a name we are giving it based on the term for corral in the Online Nahuatl Dictionary and drawing from Alonso de Molina. It consists of a black and white drawing of a square enclosure with sides or walls made up of a pattern of glyphic elements indicating that it is constructed of stone (tetl). The stones have the swirling edges and diagonal stripes in alternating colors that are typical of their hieroglyphs. The image is drawn as if the viewer is looking down on the four-walled enclosure from above. While there is no Nahuatl text associated with the pictorial upon which this image appears, testimony from a Nahuatl speaker that was translated into Spanish indicates that it is a corral para encerrar ganado. Besides tetzacuilli, there are two other possibilities for the Nahuatl expressions used at the time: tepancalli and tepan chinamitl.

Description, Credit:

Robert Haskett

Added Analysis:

This iconographic image appears on a pictorial manuscript submitted by indigenous petitioners on or around October 9, 1549, as evidence during a land dispute between the Cuernavacan community of Tianquiztenco and the Marquesado del Valle. One of the pictorials found in the so-called Códice del Marquesado del Valle, it pictures a total of fourteen parcels of agricultural land belonging to the community (tierras comunes, according to accompanying Spanish texts) that had allegedly been usurped four and a half years previously by the Marqués. According to a witness, the corral had been erected for the Marques’ use. For more information, consult Von Mentz, Cuauhnahuac, 2008, 472 (calling it a tecorral; Códices indígenas de algunos pueblos del Marquesado, 1933 and 1883, “Códice núm. 6; and Santiago Sánchez, Códices del Marquesado del Valle, 2003, 106-109.

Added Analysis, Credit:

Robert Haskett

Gloss Image:

Gloss Diplomatic Transcription:

un corral para encerrar
ganado

Gloss Normalization:

un corral para encerrar ganado

Gloss Analysis, Credit:

Robert Haskett

Source Manuscript:

AGN Hospital de Jesús, leg. 276, exp. 79

Date of Manuscript:

1549

Creator's Location (and place coverage):

Tianquiztenco, Cuernavaca, Morelos

Syntax:

cuil (tracking)

noun(s)

Cultural Content & Iconography:

Agriculture, Gardens, Stock Raising

Animals, incl. Birds, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, etc.

Architecture, Construction, Buildings

Land Parcels, Use, Issues

Landscape Features

Markets, Commerce, Economy

Politics, Power, Governance

Protest, Resistance

Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods

Stones, Rocks, Lapidary, Masonry

Cultural Content, Credit:

Robert Haskett

Colors:

black & white drawing (no color)

Shapes and Perspectives:

diagonal or angled

rectangular

spiraling, swirling, coiling, curling

Other Cultural Influences:

Spanish/European

Keywords:

corral, pen, enclosure, stone wall, cerramiento, muro de piedra

Glyph or Iconographic Image:

Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s):

tetzacuil(li), a corral or pen, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tetzacuilli
tepancal(li), enclosure, pen, corral, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepancalli
te(pan) chinami(tl), something surrounded by a wall or fence, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tepan-chinamitl

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation:

el corral

Spanish Translation, Credit:

Robert Haskett

Image Source:

Single-page codex, Archivo General de la Nación, México, Ramo de Hospital de Jesús, leg. 276, Exp. 79, pt. 2, fol. 61r.

Image Source, Rights:

The Archivo General de la Nación (AGN), México, holds the original manuscript. This image is published here under a Creative Commons license, asking that you cite the AGN and this Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs.