tlacotli (MH606v)

tlacotli (MH606v)
Simplex Glyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This black-line drawing for the simplex noun, tlacotli (enslaved person), shows a man's head in profile, facing toward the viewer's right, and around his neck is a round (likely wooden) collar attached to a horizontal pole or stick. This restraining collar was how people were marked as enslaved, and it was supposed to inhibit their escape. The absence of anything more than the name "Diego," suggests that he was enslaved, as opposed to being the middle child, "Tlaco." Besides, birth order names were more common for girls and women.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

The rods (tlacotl) attached to the collars were up to about a yard or meter in length. See Ian Mursell's discussion of this wooden collar in Mexicolore. See also his further discussion of slavery.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

diego

Gloss Normalization: 

Diego

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Huexotzinco, Matrícula de (MH)
Date of Manuscript: 

1560

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Huejotzingo, Puebla

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Birth order
Anatomy, human body parts
Crime, Punishment
Family, Kinship, even Friendship
Gender (male)
Labor Issues
Slavery
Wood, wooden things
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
circle, circular or rounded
facing right
horizontal
profile view
Keywords: 

slaves, enslaved persons, slavery, esclavizados

Glyph or Iconographic Image: 
Relevant Nahuatl Dictionary Word(s): 

tlaco(tli), enslaved person, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlacotli
tlaco, half, or middle child, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlaco

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

una persona esclavizada

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 606v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=295st=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: 
See Also: 

Tlaco (MH516r)

Tlaco (MH576v)

cuauhcozcatl (Mdz66r)

Tlaco (MH632v)

Tlaco (MH641r)