The Aztec codices were folding screenfold books made of bark paper, deer hide, or maguey fiber, and they were the principal means by which the Mexica recorded historical, religious, and administrative information before and after the Spanish conquest. The codices combined pictographic and phonetic elements, and they could represent complex information in a relatively compact form. The codices were used for a wide range of purposes, from religious divination to historical record, and they are among the most important sources for the pre-conquest past of Mesoamerica.
The Nature of the Codices
The codices were typically made of long strips of bark paper, deer hide, or maguey fiber, which were coated with a layer of lime and then folded accordion-style. The resulting book could be folded up to a small size for storage, and it could be unfolded to reveal a long continuous strip of images and signs. The codices were typically produced by teams of specialists, including the scribe, the artist, and the religious specialist who supervised the production.
The codices used a combination of pictographic and phonetic elements. The pictographic elements were images that represented objects, ideas, or actions, and they were used to record information that could be conveyed visually. The phonetic elements were signs that represented sounds, and they were used to record information that could not be conveyed visually, including proper names, abstract ideas, and grammatical relationships.
The Topics of the Codices
The codices covered a wide range of topics, and the most important codices can be grouped into several broad categories. The religious codices, such as the Codex Borbonicus, were used to determine the auspicious days for various activities, and they contained the Tonalpohualli and the Xiuhpohualli, the two cycles of the Mexica calendar. The religious codices also contained the rituals and the offerings associated with the various days, and they were used by the priests to determine the proper ceremonies for each day.
The historical codices, such as the Codex Boturini and the Codex Aubin, recorded the major events of Mexica history, from the migration to the Spanish conquest. The historical codices typically used a strip format, with the events arranged in a chronological sequence, and they recorded the reigns of the Tlatoani, the conquests of the empire, and the major battles and events of the imperial period.
The tribute codices, such as the Codex Mendoza, recorded the tribute owed by the subject provinces. The tribute codices typically used a grid format, with the provinces listed in the rows and the goods listed in the columns, and they recorded the amounts owed by each province. The tribute codices were used by the calpixqui, the tribute collectors, to determine the amounts owed, and they were used by the central government to verify the collections.
The Survival of the Codices
Most of the pre-conquest codices were destroyed by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, in the campaigns of evangelization that followed the conquest. The Spanish, suspicious of the religious content of the codices and eager to suppress the old religion, destroyed thousands of codices and other indigenous texts. The surviving pre-conquest codices are therefore relatively few, and they are among the most precious documents of pre-Columbian America.
The most important surviving pre-conquest codices include the Codex Boturini (Tira de la Peregrinación), which records the Mexica migration from Aztlan to Tenochtitlan; the Codex Aubin, which records Mexica history from the migration to the Spanish conquest; and the Codex Borbonicus, a religious and divinatory codex. The most important early colonial codices include the Codex Mendoza, a tribute and history codex prepared for the first Viceroy of New Spain, and the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, a religious codex prepared in the sixteenth century.
The Importance of the Codices
The codices are among the most important sources for the modern study of Mexica civilization, and they provide a detailed record of Mexica life, religion, history, and administration. The codices have been studied by generations of scholars, and they continue to be the subject of intensive scholarly research. The codices are also important for the modern Mexican national identity, and they are widely displayed in museums and other cultural institutions in Mexico and around the world.
The study of the codices is an active field, and new discoveries continue to deepen our understanding of Mexica civilization. Modern scholars have been able to reconstruct much of the Mexica writing system from the surviving codices, and they have used this knowledge to interpret the pre-conquest past. The codices are a reminder of the cultural inheritance of the Mexica, and they continue to be a source of fascination and inspiration for scholars and the general public alike.
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- Who were the Spanish chroniclers of Aztec history? — the European writers
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- Writing, Glyphs, and Codices — the writing system
- The Aztec Calendar and Timekeeping — the calendar
- History of the Aztec Civilization — the broader history