Yaozol (MH717v)

This painted drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name, Yaozol (perhaps, “Old Combatant”), is attested here as a man’s name. It shows two war shields, one above the other. The upper one has a white cross on a black background. On each of the right and left edges are three scallops that recall a turtle (ayotl) shell, providing a phonetic complement to the usual reading of these shields as the name Yaotl. (A shield is actually a chimalli, but in personal name glyphs, Yaotl is typically shown as a shield.) In this case, a line connects this upper, more Europeanized shield to a lower, more Indigenous shield, which is defined by a pair of concentric circles that create a border. Inside the border are four evenly spaced shell or feather designs, plus one small circle in the middle. The result is a quincunx shape. The tlacuilo may have provided this lower shield, as a more ancient one, to cover the -zol (old) meaning of the name.