choloa (MH533r)

Footprints are used as hieroglyphs for a wide range of verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Only in context or with glosses can they be translated with any precision. The gloss for this glyph has announced that a group of tribute payers have fled, and this man, Pedro Ehecatl, is one of them. Those who have "fled" no longer live in the pueblo where they were expected to contribute tributes in kind, cash, or labor. Many people fled as the epidemics reduced population levels drastically and the amount owed was either not lowered or it took much petitioning and a long time to obtain redress. Running away was an act of resistance to unreasonable colonial economic demands.

Footprint glyphs have a wide range of translations. In this collection, so far, we can attest to yauh, xo, pano, -pan, paina, temo, nemi, quetza, otli, iyaquic hualiloti, huallauh, tepal, tetepotztoca, totoco, otlatoca, -tihui, and the vowel "o." Other research (Herrera et al, 2005, 64) points to additional terms, including: choloa, tlaloa, totoyoa, eco, aci, quiza, maxalihui, centlacxitl, and xocpalli.