tzontli (Mdz48r)

The term tzontli can refer to a head or a full head of hair, but many times in glyphic representations, it is a thick lock or clump of hair, either wrapped, tied at the base, or held in a human hand, such as can be seen in the attestations included in the Tetlacuilolli.

The sign for tzontli can sometimes appear similar to bundles of blades of grass (zacatl) given as tribute payments. Four hundred hairs or pieces of grass would be centzontli (the number 400, or a single or entire tzontli). Some hair binders had feathers attached to them, such as the tlalpiloni. Warriors often wore their hair bound, as part a style referred to as the temillotl. But singers would tie their hair and attach feathers to it as we see in the Florentine Codex. A similar red leather tie is called a "cinta de cuero rojo," employed in the process of tying up one's hair to be converted into a warrior, according to Guy Stresser-Péan (1995, 45). (See our Bibliography for the full citation to his study.)