tepoztli (FCbk8f30r)

This iconographic example, featuring a ceremonial axe (tepoztli), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making potential comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the keywords chosen by the team behind the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss. This example shows an axe with the usual curved wooden handle but–unusually–showing the grain of the wood, which may reflect European artistic influence. Embedded in the wood, on the outside of the curve, is a triangular, yellow, metal blade. The color could suggest it is gold. Gold, copper, and silver were the best known metals among the Indigenous Mesoamericans, but Europeans had introduced brass by this time, so perhaps that explains the gold. Still, the decorations on the bottom of the axe or hatchet suggest a ceremonial, religious role for it, which might justify the use of gold. The materials used in decorating the axe handle are not clear, but the colors are yellow, red, and green.