nacochtli (LTlaxUT2a)

nacochtli (LTlaxUT2a)
Simplex Hieroglyph

Glyph or Iconographic Image Description: 

This simplex Nahuatl hieroglyph shows what may be four gold ear ornaments. The gloss refers to necochtli instead of nacochtli, but the letters “e” and “a” can substitute for one another in some vocabulary, such as pia and pie (to hold, have, keep, guard). The nose ornaments are mentioned in the nearby text, but they are part of a large group of gold pieces, so be sure to look at the contextualizing image to judge for yourself which are ear ornaments. These were either given as gifts or tribute payments to the Spanish invaders.

Description, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Added Analysis: 

One clearly marked pair of gold earrings in this digital collection (as of April 2026) appears below.

Added Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Gloss or Text Image: 
Gloss/Text Diplomatic Transcription: 

necochtli

Gloss/Text Normalization: 

nacochtli

Gloss/Text Analysis, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Source Manuscript: 
Tlaxcala, Lienzo de (LTlax)
Date of Manuscript: 

1540s

Creator's Location (and place coverage): 

Tlaxcala and other parts of early Mexico

Syntax: 
noun(s)
Cultural Content & Iconography: 
Jewelry, Crowns, or other Adornment
Cultural Content, Credit: 

Jeff Haskett-Wood

Colors: 
black & white drawing (no color)
Shapes and Perspectives: 
frontal view
rectangular
Keywords: 

orejera, joya, joyas, adorno, adornos oreja, orejas, oro, regalo, regalos, obsequio, obsequios, tributo, tributos

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

nacoch(tli), ear ornaments, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/nacochtli
pia, to hold, have, keep, or guard, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/pia

Glyph/Icon Name, Spanish Translation: 

orejeras

Spanish Translation, Credit: 

Stephanie Wood

Image Source: 

Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin https://collections.lib.utexas.edu/catalog/utblac:3c754fd0-b27f-4af7-9cf...

Image Source, Rights: 

The Benson Library has kindly provided the digital images and permission to put them into our Mapas Project in 2015. Use and reproduction from this project: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/, but please also cite the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, ed. Stephanie Wood, (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities Projects, ©2020-present). Version 1.0.

Historical Contextualizing Image: 
See Also: 

nacochtli (FCbk8f56v)