Cuauhtitlan (Mdz5v)

The Codex Mendoza has two additional representations of Cuauhtitlan, both involving trees with teeth. One is much like this one (on 3 verso), and the other (26 recto) has an additional element, a head that appears to be attached to one of the tree branches. Frances Berdan and Patricia Anawalt suggest that the head represents "the black and white mask of the goddess Tlazolteotl ('Filth-Deity')," with its "cotton headband with two cotton fillets, a diagnostic characteristic of this goddess (see the Codex Borbonicus 1974:13)." Perhaps the latter town had a special association with that divinity.

Gordon Whittaker asserts that the full set of teeth is more often used when the locative includes the ligature (-ti-), resulting in -titlan. This example supports the case. Advanced searches for glyphs ending in -tlan and ending in -titlan will provide data showing a somewhat mixed result, but there is a tendency toward what Whittaker suggests.

It is worth noting that this place name uses the -titlan postposition on the stem that once had the -tl absolutive (cuahuitl, tree). Whereas, the place name Cuauhtlan uses the -tlan postposition on the stem that once had the -tli absolutive (cuauhtli, eagle).