tlamamalli (FCbk10f29v)

This iconographic example, features three loads or burdens (tlamamalli), bundles that were to be carried by human carriers on their backs with a tumpline (mecapalli) across the forehead. This example is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the keywords chosen by the team behind the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss or textual sample. This example shows two men in profile moving toward the viewer’s right with loads on their backs. The one on the far left has something like a large basket connected to his tumpline. He wears a white cotton short-sleeve shirt and knee-length pants, clothing that shows Spanish colonial influence, as does the shading and three-dimensionality of the cloth. He grabs the tumpline with both hands, behind his head, so that it would not slip off. He is barefooted. The next man who is also on his feet carries a tlamamalli that is tied with a rope to a wooden frame (probably a cacaxtli) on his back. He is dressed the same. A third man, on the viewer’s right, sits by a bundle (tlamamalli) that is attached to the wooden frame. He faces the men who are coming toward him. He sits with his forelegs almost crossed, which differs from the older way of sitting with the two knees up under the chin. He grabs onto what is probably a cacaxtli, a wooden frame. In particular, he grasps the leg that helps the frame stand on its own when it is not on a person’s back. While the other two tumplines (what would be called mecapalli) are plain white, this one show that it is woven, something like a petlatl (woven mat).