tzotzopaztli (T2998:3)

tzotzopaztli (T2998:3)
Iconography

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This iconographic example, featuring a Nahua weaving batten (tzotzopaztli), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with possibly related hieroglyphs. This example shows a frontal view of a woman holding a weapon that is an undulating serpent with a rattler tail, so probably a rattlesnake. The gloss says it is a weaving batten. The woman is pointing with her left hand, arm raised, which is a cultural sign of voice/authority. The contextualizing image shows this woman is standing up with a group of men who hold wooden weapons with embedded obsidian blades (macuahuitl), in what appears to be a conflict.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

Weaving battens do appear to have been used as weapons by women in pre-contact times according to studies in Mexico Desconocido and one published by INAH on Facebook. They also had roles in rituals. See another iconographic example below. Indigenous women's roles in uprisings to defend community lands are well attested in William B. Taylor, Drinking, Homicide, and Rebellion in Colonial Mexican Villages (1979).

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss Image: 
Gloss Diplomatic Transcription: 

tzutzupastli

Gloss Normalization: 

tzotzopaztli

Gloss Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
AGN Tierras 2998, exp. 3
Date of Manuscript: 

1590

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Otumba, Mexico

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Animals: Reptiles
Gender (female)
Gender (male)
Gestures with hands
Textiles, Clothing, Hats, Regalia
War or Conflict
Weapons, Shields, Armor
Wood, wooden things
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
curving, curvy, curved
frontal view
Keywords: 

arma, listón, listones, implemento para tejer, herramienta de tejido, mapilhuia, mahpilhuia, crótalos, ondulante

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

tzotzopaz(tli), a weaving batten, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzotzopaztli
mapilhuia, to point a finger, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/mapilhuia

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

el palo de telar, or el machete tejedor

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Archivo General de la Nación, México, Ramo de Tierras Vol. 2998, Exp. 3.

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.

Historical Contextualizing Image: